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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINA 
AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 
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This  book  is  due  at  the  LOUIS  R.  WILSON  LIBRARY  on  the 
last  date  stamped  under  “Date  Due.”  If  not  on  hold  it  may  be 
renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library. 


DATE  nrT 

DUE  KL1’ 

DATE  ret 

DUE  KL1, 

• 

Form  No.  513 

THE  LIFE  OF 


Philip  Henry  Sheridan 


THE  DASHING,  BRAVE  AND  SUCCESSFUL 

SOLDIER 


BY 

JOSEPH  FAULKNER 


NEW  YORK 

HURST  &  CO.,  Publishers 
122  Nassau  Street 


Copyright,  1888,  by  HURST  &  CO. 


THE  LIFE  OF 

GOT.  PHILIP  HENRY  SHERIDAN. 

BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD. 

Thirty  years  and  more  have  passed  since  Brevet 
Lieut. -Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  from  Army  Headquar^ 
ters  at  New  York,  issued,  on  the  13th  of  November, 
1857,  a  retrospective  general  order,  of  which  the 
following  was  a  portion  : 

‘  ‘  VIII.  April  28,  1856,  Brevet  Lieut.  -Col.  E.  J. 
Steptoe,  Ninth  Infantry,  commanding  Companies 
A,  E,  F,  and  I,  same  regiment,  and  detachments 
oi  Company  E,  First  Dragoons,  and  Company  I, 
Third  Artillery,  in  all  200  men,  at  the  Cascades, 
Washington  Territory,  repulsed  the  Indians  in 
their  attack  on  that  place.  The  troops  landed 
under  fire,  routing  and  dispersing  the  enemy  at 
every  point,  capturing  a  large  number  of  their 
mules  and  destroying  all  their  propjerty. 

“  Second  Lieut.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  Fourth  In¬ 
fantry,  is  especially  mentioned  for  his  gallantry.” 

Within  ten  years  from  the  event  thus  recorded 
the  young  Lieutenant  who  received  this  flattering 

1 


2 


LIFE  OF  GENT.  SHERIDAN. 


mention  had  become  the  renowned  hero  of  Cedar 
Creek  and  a  Major-General  in  the  regular  army, 
while  in  due  time  followed  promotion  to  the  grades 
of  Lieutenant-General  and  General,  with  the  com¬ 
mand  of  that  army  from  which,  alas,  death  has 
now  removed  him  in  the  fullness  of  his  matured 
powers. 

The  career  of  Philip  Henry  Sheridan  has  a  tinge 
of  romance  running  through  its  more  brilliant 
phases,  and  is  a  vivid  illustration  of  the  truth  that 
to  the  born  soldier  war  is  the  pledge  of  renown. 
The  second  son  of  John  and  Mary  Sheridan,  who 
had  emigrated  from  County  Cavan,  Irland,  a  few 
years  before  his  birth,  and,  after  settling  in  Canada 
and  Albany  had  drifted  westward  to  Perry  County, 
in  Southern  Ohio,  he  was  born  in  the  little  village 
of  Somerset,  in  that  county,  on  the  6th  of  March, 
1831.  He  had  two  brothers,  of  whom  the  younger, 
Lieut. -Col.  Michael  Y.  Sheridan,  has  long  been 
upon  the  late  general’s  staff.  A  sister,  Mary,  was 
married,  and  is  no  longer  living.  The  elder  brother, 
John  L.,  has  engaged  in  several  employments  at 
the  West. 

Somerset  was  then  an  exceedingly  unpretentious 
place  of  perhaps  1200  inhabitants,  and  has  grown 
but  little  since.  It  is  a  coincidence  that  the  three 
officers  who  attained  the  highest  rank  in  the  Union 
army  were  all  born  in  Ohio,  and  the  home  of  Gen¬ 
eral  Sherman  was  but  a  few  miles  from  that  of  Gen¬ 
eral  Sheridan.  The  lad’s  father,  who  had  obtained 
employment  in  road  building,  bettered  himself,  and 
eventually  took  contracts  for  constructing  a  part  of 
the  National  Road  from  Cumberland  to  Terre  Haute 


LIFE  OF  OEX.  SHEMDAIT.  S 

and  for  excavating  locks  and  other  portions  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  canal,  and  for  work  on  the  Zanes¬ 
ville  and  Maysville  turnpike.  His  labor  kept  him 
away  from  Somerset  most  of  the  time,  and  the  chil¬ 
dren  were  left  to  be  brought  up  by  their  mother  in 
their  cottage.  In  later  years  her  illustrious  son  pro¬ 
cured  for  her  a  very  comfortable  home  in  Somerset, 
where  she  lived  with  John  L.  and  his  wife  and 
daughters.  There,  too,  she  died,  at  the  age  of  87, 
in  June,  1888,  during  the  general’s  dangerous  ill¬ 
ness. 

Like  the  other  village  boys,  Philip  Sheridan  went 
to  the  school  of  the  place,  and  was  taught  reading, 
writing,  grammar,  arithmetic,  and  geography.  Many 
apocryphal  stories  have  been  told  of  Sheridan’s  boy¬ 
hood,  one  of  them  making  him  the  driver  of  a  water 
cart  in  Zanesville.  A  water  cart  in  that  region  would 
have  been  indeed  a  novelty  then.  A  more  plausible 
anecdote  tells  of  his  once  riding  a  colt  barebacked, 
when  his  companions  expected  to  see  him  thrown 
off,  and  sticking  to  his  seat  with  a  grit  that  marked 
him  in  renowned  rides  of  later  days. 

When  about  twelve  years  old,  being  able  to  do 
something  toward  earning  his  living,  he  got  a  situa¬ 
tion  in  the  store  of  John  Talbot,  in  the  village,  at 
wages  of  $2  a  month.  After  working  a  while  there  he 
changed  to  the  store  of  David  Whitehead,  where  he 
received  $5  a  month.  His  third  place  was  the  store 
of  Henry  Dittoe  ;  and  by  this  time,  being  consider¬ 
ably  older  and  more  useful,  he  commanded  $10  a 
month.  His  service  for  Mr.  Dittoe  gave  a  chance, 
while  pushing  trade  and  carrying  goods,  to  see  a  little 
of  the  country  beyond  the  village. 


4 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


WEST  POINT  AND  PACIFIC. 

It  happened,  when  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  that  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  cadetship 
at  West  Point  belonging  to  the  Congressional  dis¬ 
trict  in  which  Somerset  is  situated.  He  had  always 
been  fond  of  reading  history  and  biography,  and 
perhaps  more  particularly  the  history  of  wars.  A 
year  or  two  before,  the  country  had  become  in¬ 
volved  in  hostilities  with  Mexico,  and  possibly 
through  the  years  1846  and  1847  the  news  of  the 
victories  of  Taylor  and  Scott  may  have  given  him 
the  desire  to  lead  the  life  of  a  soldier.  At  all 
events,  Congressman  Thomas  Ritchie,  who  had  the 
appointment  to  the  vacancy  at  the  Military  Acad¬ 
emy  in  his  control,  knew  the  active  young  employe 
of  Dittoe,  and  the  lad  ventured  to  apply  to  him  for 
the  appointment.  The  answer  to  his  request  in¬ 
closed  a  document  directing  him  to  report  at  W est 
Point  for  examination  June  1  of  that  year,  1848. 
Devoting  all  his  available  time  to  his  studies,  he 
repaired  to  the  Military  Academy  at  the  time 
appointed,  and  to  his  great  joy  succeeded  in  passing 
the  entrance  examinations. 

The  change  thus  made  in  the  lad’s  surroundings 
and  prospective  career  was  as  great  as  it  had  been 
sudden.  Through  the  seventeen  years  of  his  life  he 
had  been  accustomed  only  to  his  native  village  and 
its  surroundings,  save  that  during  the  previous 
year  or  more  he  had  occasionally  gone,  as  has  been 
indicated,  to  Zanesville,  about  eighteen  miles  away, 
or  over  to  Lancaster,  General  Sherman’s  birthplace, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


5 


distant  about  sixteen  miles.  The  journey  through 
Pennsylvania  and  the  city  of  New  York  was  itself  a 
revelation,  since  never  until  that  time  had  he  even 
ridden  upon  a  railroad.  At  West  Point  he  found 
many  companions  from  the  city,  and  some  who  had 
been  prepared  for  the  Military  Academy  from  child¬ 
hood  up.  He  was  fortunate  in  having  an  industri¬ 
ous  room-mate  during  the  first  six  months  of  the 
course — Cadet  Henry  W.  Slocum,  afterward  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  major-general.  Slocum  helped  him  a 
great  deal  with  his  algebra,  of  which  subject,  as  of 
geometry,  he  knew  nothing  before  entering  the 
Academy.  Cadet  Slocum  was  aiming  at  a  high 
standing  in  his  class,  and  did,  in  fact,  graduate 
No.  7 ;  Cadet  Sheridan  was  devoting  himself  to  the 
less  ambitious,  but  even  more  anxious,  problem  of 
simply  trying  not  to  be  “  found  ”  deficient  at  the 
J anuary  examination,  which  was  for  him  the  im¬ 
mediate  necessity.  Accordingly,  after  taps,  when 
lights  were  to  be  put  out,  and  everybody  was 
to  go  to  bed,  these  two  room-mates  were  in  the 
habit  of  hanging  a  blanket  over  the  window,  re¬ 
lighting  the  lamp,  and  pursuing  their  studies.  At 
the  examination  Slocum  went  far  up  toward  the 
head  of  the  class,  and  Sheridan  successfully  passed 
his  examination  and  remained  in  the  Academy. 

The  years  sped  away,  and  acquaintances  destined 
to  be  renewed  under  strange  circumstances  and 
with  curious  redistributions  of  fortune  and  success 
were  made.  In  Sheridan’s  class,  which  was  to 
graduate  in  1852,  there  were  some  names  that  were 
to  become  wTell  known.  The  highest  scholar  was 
Col.  T.  L.  Casey  of  the  Engineers  ;  Gfen.  D.  S.  Stan- 


6 


LIFE  OF  GETsT.  SHEKIDAK. 


ley  graduated  No.  9  ;  Jerome  L.  Bonaparte,  No.  11 ; 
the  Confederate  Gen.  Cosby,  No.  17 :  Gen.  G.  L. 
Hartsuff,  No.  19  ;  Gen.  C.  B.  Woods,  No.  30  ;  Gen. 
A.  V.  Kautz,  No.  36  ;  Gen.  George  Crook,  No.  38. 
There  were  43  graduates  in  this  class,  but  of  course 
more  members  earlier  in  the  course. 

But  Philip  Sheridan  was  not  to  graduate  with 
that  class.  In  the  fall  of  1851,  when  he  had  already 
begun  his  last  year,  which  would  have  closed  the 
following  June,  he  had  a  quarrel  with  a  fellow- 
cadet,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  corps,  and  being 
adjudged  guilty  of  a  breach  of  discipline  and  good 
conduct,  was  punished  by  suspension  for  a  year. 
On  returning  to  the  Academy  he  joined  the  succeed¬ 
ing  class,  that  of  1853.  Of  this  the  distinguished 
James  B.  McPherson  wTas  the  first  scholar,  while 
Gen.  J.  M.  Schofield,  who  now  succeeds  Sheridan 
in  command  of  the  army  as  senior  Major-General, 
graduated  No.  7.  The  gallant  Sill,  killed  at  Stone 
Biver,  was  No.  3,  and  Terrell,  killed  at  Perry ville, 
was  No.  16  ;  Gen.  B.  O.  Tyler  was  No.  22,  and  Gen. 
J.  B.  Hood  No.  44.  Sheridan  was  No.  34  in  a  class 
of  52  members,  and,  five  years  after  entering  the 
Academy,  was  graduated  July  1,  1853,  and  ap¬ 
pointed  a  Brevet  Second  Lieutenant,  being  assigned 
to  Company  D,  First  Infantry. 

Then  as  now  the  General  Begulations  gave  a  three 
months’  leave  of  absence  to  graduated  cadets  before 
joining  their  commands,  and  when  this  had  exj3ired 
Lieut.  Sheridan  reported,  Sept.  30,  for  duty  at 
Newport  barracks.  With  him  were  ordered  to  the 
same  garrison,  of  his  class  at  West  Point,  Lieuts. 
Elmer  Otis,  First  Infantry ;  H.  H.  Walker,  Third  ; 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


7 


L.  L.  Rich,  Fifth  ;  R.  R.  Ross,  Fourth  ;  W.  Craig, 
Third.  Just  before  Christmas  orders  were  issued 
from  Gen.  Scott’s  headquarters,  directing  certain 
officers,  including  Lieut.  Sheridan,  to  join  their 
companies  in  Texas,  via  Corpus  Christi,  and  a  few 
months  later,  accordingly,  found  him  at  Fort  Dun¬ 
can.  On  the  20th  of  May  he  was  transferred  to 
Camp  La  Pena,  where  he  commanded  Company  A 
for  a  time,  relieving  Capt.  Caldwell,  then  rejoining 
his  own  company  at  Turkey  Creek.  The  winter 
was  passed  at  Fort  Duncan,  and  while  there  he 
learned  of  his  becoming  a  full  Second  Lieutenant  in 
Company  D,  Fourth  Infantry. 

The  Fourth  Infantry  was  then  serving  on  the 
Pacific,  and  accordingly  in  May,  1855,  Lieut.  Sheri¬ 
dan  ‘was  ordered  to  report  to  Governor’s  Island, 
New  York  Harbor,  to  prepare  for  going  with  re¬ 
cruits  to  Benicia,  in  the  Department  of  the  Pacific, 
and  thence  joining  his  company.  His  next  journey, 
therefore,  carried  him  to  Fort  Columbus,  where  he 
remained  on  duty  in  June  and  July,  and  thence  he 
departed  for  San  Francisco. 

The  great  Northwest  was  then  still  little  more 
than  a  wilderness.  The  discovery  of  gold  at  Sut¬ 
ter’s  mill,  in  1848,  had  rapidly  built  up  California, 
and  that  same  year  the  “  County  of  Oregon,”  com¬ 
prising  everthing  north  of  California  up  to  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel,  received  a  Territorial  government, 
while  in  March,  1849,  Joseph  Lane  arrived  as  its 
first  Governor.  Only  a  year  or  two  before  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Sheridan’s  arrival  the  so-called  District  of 
Vancouver  had  been  set  apart  to  form  Washington 
Territory,  with  the  Columbia  River  on  the  west  and 


8 


LIFE  OF  GEFT.  SHEKIDAE". 


the  forty-sixth  parallel  on  the  east,  dividing  it  from 
Oregon.  The  same  year  that  he  reached  this  region 
gold  had  been  found  in  the  Pend  d’ Oreille  or 
Clark’s  River  at  its  junction  with  the  Columbia. 
Foreseeing  the  rush  which  this  discovery  would  pro¬ 
duce  upon  lands  still  belonging  to  the  red  men,  the 
Government  strengthened  its  military  forces  in  the 
region  and  kept  them  alert.  Governor  Stevens  of 
Oregon,  on  the  9th  of  June,  1855,  made  a  treaty  at 
Camp  Stevens,  now  Walla  Walla  City,  with  the 
Cayuses,  the  Walla  Wallas,  and  the  Umatillas  for 
the  purchase  of  about  20,000  square  miles  of  land 
in  the  gold-bearing  region.  Ratification  by  the 
Washington  Government  was  required  in  order  to 
make  the  treaty  valid,  but  without  waiting  for  that 
gold-seekers  spread  all  over  the  ceded  land  and 
flocked  to  the  Colville  mines.  The  head  chief  of 
the  Walla  Wallas  had  been  reluctant  to  sign  the 
treaty,  and  the  greed  of  the  whites  in  seizing  the 
land  long  before  the  stipulated  price  had  been  paid 
for  it  led  to  bitter  hostilities.  This  animosity  ex¬ 
tended  to  tribes  all  along  the  line  of  the  Columbia. 

Such  was  the  critical  period  in  the  history  of  the 
far  Northwest  when  Sheridan  arrived  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  first  duty  assigned  to  him  was  that  of 
escorting  a  topographical  party  from  Sacramento  to 
the  Columbia  River,  in  August  and  September,  1855. 
The  survey  was  under  charge  of  Lieutenant  Wil¬ 
liamson,  and  the  military  party  was  under  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Gibson,  while  a  detachment  of  the  First 
Dragoons  was  under  Second  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Hood. 
At  the  Rocky  Hills,  known  as  the  Three  Sisters,  in 
the  lava  beds,  Lieutenant  Sheridan  took  command 


I 

l 

1. 


I 

t 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


9 


in  place  of  Lieutenant  Hood,  who  was  relieved  for 
other  duty.  The  region  was  full  of  elk  and  deer, 
and  the  officers  had  opportunity  of  hunting.  Care¬ 
ful  scouting,  however,  was  required  on  account  of 
the  troubles  with  the  Indians. 

This  duty  having  been  performed,  Lieutenant 
Sheridan  was  still  continued  on  detached  service 
from  his  infantry  company  in  order  that  he  might 
command  in  an  expedition  against  the  Yakimas  the 
same  detachment  of  dragoons  which  had  formed  a 
part  of  Lieutenant  Williamson’s  escort.  The  expe¬ 
dition  started  from  Camp  Yakima,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Columbia,  opposite  The  Dalles.  Company  C, 
First  Dragoons,  scouted  ahead  through  a  dangerous 
pass  and  came  out  on  a  branch  of  the  Yakima. 
There  the  troops  dismounted  and  advanced,  skir¬ 
mishing.  The  Indians  retreated  and  the  troops  en¬ 
camped  at  night  on  the  river.  On  resuming  the 
march  the  next  morning  the  Indians  fired  on  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Sheridan’s  advance  as  it  deployed,  conceal¬ 
ing  themselves  on  the  mountain-sides.  Little  harm, 
however,  was  done. 

After  the  close  of  this  expedition,  Lieutenant 
Sheridan  remained  at  Fort  Vancouver  until  the 
opening  of  the  spring  of  1856  made  operations 
again  practicable,  when  he  resumed  scouting  against 
the  Indians. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  the  Indians  had 
attacked  the  blockhouse  at  the  Middle  Cascades, 
and  had  the  inmates  badly  whipped  and  in  immi¬ 
nent  danger  of  being  massacred  at  any  moment.  A 
courier  was  sent  flying  away  to  Vancouver,  where 
Sheridan  held  the  fort  at  that  time,  calling  for 


10 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


immediate  assistance.  Sheridan  caused  an  old- 
fashioned  iron  cannon  to  be  placed  on  board  a  little 
steamer,  and  in  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time 
was  steaming  away  up  the  Columbia.  Arriving  at 
the  Cascades,  the  cannon  was  put  on  shore  and 
taken  to  a  position  on  the  bank  of  the  river  in  range 
of  the  beleaguered  blockhouse,  which  was  sur¬ 
rounded  by  yelling  savages.  In  the  excitement  of 
the  moment  the  gun  was  placed  near  the  bank  and 
loaded  very  heavily.  The  order  was  given  ;  a  fear¬ 
ful  boom,  which  crashed  and  re-echoed  throughout 
the  mountains,  was  heard.  The  cannon  kicked 
over  the  bluff  and  went  splashing  into  the  Colum¬ 
bia,  twenty  feet  below.  The  artillery  was  silenced, 
and  Sheridan  stood  perplexed.  His  chagrin  was 
turned  to  joy  as  he  beheld  the  savages  running 
with  all  their  speed  for  the  mountains,  yelling  as 
only  savages  could.  They  had  never  before  heard 
the  report  of  a  cannon,  and  imagined  the  judgment 
day  had  come.  Sheridan  won  his  first  victory,  sav¬ 
ing  the  lives  of  those  in  the  blockhouse  and  prob¬ 
ably  many  others,  as  one  success  of  the  hostiles 
would  have  caused  a  raid  down  the  river.  Some  of 
the  men  said  that  the  Indians  did  not  quit  running 
until  they  had  crossed  Snake  River,  in  Idaho.  A 
few  years  ago  the  cannon  was  recovered  and  taken 
to  Portland,  Ore.,  where  it  was  broken  up  and  cast 
into  more  useful  form. 

For  gallantry  in  an  engagement  at  the  Cascades 
of  Columbia,  April  26,  1856,  he  was  specially  noted 
in  general  orders.  In  May  following  he  took  com¬ 
mand  of  the  Yokima  Reservation,  in  the  coast 
range  of  mountains.  He  then  selected  a  site  for  a 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


11 


military  post  in  the  Seletz  Valley.  In  the  spring  of 
1857  he  was  complimented  by  General  Scott  for 
meritorious  conduct  in  the  settlement  of  difficulties 
with  the  Indians  at  Yokima  Bay.  In  the  same 
year  he  built  a  post  at  Yamhill,  W.  T.  During 
the  following  years  he  was  actively  engaged  against 
Indians  in  the  mountain  ranges.  At  Grande  Ronde 
Indian  reservation  he  was  still  in  command  of  his 
detachment  of  Company  C,  First  Dragoons,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  summer  of  1857  that  he  finally 
joined  his  own  regiment,  and  was  attached  to  Com¬ 
pany  K,  at  Fort  Yamhill.  The  post  was  under 
command  of  Capt.  D.  A.  Russell,  afterward  a 
division  commander  in  Sheridan’s  Army  of  the  Shen¬ 
andoah,  and  killed  at  Winchester.  Lieut.  Sheri¬ 
dan  was  on  several  occasions  in  charge  of  the  post 
during  Capt.  Russell’s  absence.  The  fatigues  and 
hardships  incidental  to  such  a  life  hardened  him 
until  he  became  as  tough  as  a  hickory  sapling  and 
hardy  as  a  Northern  pine.  Friends  have  heard  him 
tell  of  living  on  grasshoppers  for  days  together — a 
light  diet  which  might  fitly  train  a  man  for  the  long 
cavalry  raids  which  were  afterward  characteristic  of 
Sheridan’s  operations.  He  once  carried  his  pro¬ 
visions  for  two  weeks  in  a  blanket  rolled  across  his 
shoulders. 


THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR. 

And  now  had  come  the  great  struggle  which  was 
to  call  officers  of  the  regular  army  to  more  moment¬ 
ous  duties.  The  steady  drift  of  the  country  toward 


12 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


civil  war  had  been  watched  by  the  little  garrisons 
on  the  Pacific  coast  with  straining  eyes.  One  of  its 
earliest  effects  was  felt  in  the  resignation  of  Southern 
officers  there  as  elsewhere,  following  their  States  as 
these  successfully  plunged  into  the  abyss  of  seces¬ 
sion.  Promotions  began  to  be  rapid  in  the  spring 
of  1861.  The  modest  wish  attributed  to  Lieut. 
Sheridan  was  that  he  might  “  get  a  captaincy  out 
of  this  thing”  before  it  was  over.  His  wildest 
dream  would  hardly  have  led  him  to  imagine  that 
in  so  few  years  he  would  be  raised  from  the  rank  of 
Second  Lieutenant  to  that  of  Lieutenant-General. 

Yet  even  of  the  brief  time  which  was  to  be 
adequate  for  his  fame,  a  fourth  part  was  to  pass 
with  few  laurels  for  him.  Brig. -Gen.  E.  V.  Sumner 
was  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Pacific 
in  1861,  with  B.  C.  Drum  and  D.  C.  Buell  success¬ 
ively  as  Assistant  Adjutant- Generals.  In  June, 
1861,  Col.  Wright,  commanding  the  District  of 
Oregon,  was  directed  by  Gen.  Sumner  to  send  to 
San  Francisco  seved  infantry  companies  of  his  com¬ 
mand.  Capt.  D.  A.  Bussell’ s  company  was  one  of 
those  selected,  and  the  abandonment  of  Fort  Yam¬ 
hill  being  ordered,  it  proceeded  to  Portland  and 
San  Francisco.  Lieut.  Sheridan  was  left  behind  in 
command  of  the  post,  and  there  remained  until 
September,  1861.  Certainly  this  was  not  a  promis¬ 
ing  start  for  one  whose  rise  was  destined  to  be  so 
rapid  and  dazzling.  The  war  had  been  going  on 
for  months  ;  one  great  battle  had  been  fought,  and 
men  like  Grant,  McClellan,  Sherman,  and  others 
who  were  to  be  named  in  history  with  Sheridan  were 
already  Brigadier  or  Major  Generals,  while  he  was 


LIFE  OF  OEN.  SHERIDAN. 


13 


still  hidden  away  at  an  obscure  place  in  Oregon. 
But  a  change  of  scene  and  duty  was  at  hand.  He 
had  already  received  in  March  his  promotion  to  be 
First  Lieutenant  of  the  Fourth  Infantry,  and  the 
following  May  a  number  of  new  regiments  were  or¬ 
ganized  by  direction  of  the  President  for  the  regular 
army.  Among  these  was  the  Thirteenth  Infantry, 
and  by  orders  dated  the  18th  of  June,  Lieut.  Sheri¬ 
dan  was  commissioned  to  be  Captain  in  that  regi¬ 
ment,  to  date  from  May  14.  This  promotion  took 
him  to  St.  Louis,  the  headquarters  of  the  regi¬ 
ment  thus  forming. 

We  are  now  at  the  threshold  of  the  more  illustri¬ 
ous  portions  of  the  great  soldier’s  career,  and  if  we 
have  lingered  long  upon  its  earlier  stages,  this  has 
been  because  these  are  less  generally  known.  Arriv¬ 
ing  at  St.  Louis  in -autumn,  his  first  service  was  the 
comparatively  peaceful  one  of  presiding  over  a  board 
for  auditing  claims.  Next  he  received  an  appoint¬ 
ment  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  S.  R.  Curtis,  who  just  at 
the  end  of  the  year  received  a  command  of  about 
12,000  men  concentrating  at  Holla,  in  Missouri,  and 
called  the  Army  of  the  Southwest.  The  duty  of 
Capt.  Sheridan  was  to  act  as  chief  Quartermaster 
and  Commissary  of  this  force.  This  was  not  a  very 
marked  advance  toward  the  work  of  field-fighting, 
which  was  the  strong  point  of  Sheridan,  and,  be¬ 
sides,  he  had  the  misfortune,  as  it  may  then  have 
appeared,  to  dissatisfy  his  commanding  officer  and 
to  lose  his  place  on  his  staff,  after  the  ensuing  Pea 
Hidge  campaign.  As  a  consequence  he  was  sent  to 
report  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Halleck,  who, 
after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  had  taken  command  in 


14 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


the  field  in  the  advance  upon  Corinth.  It  was  now 
April  or  May  of  1862.  The  war  had  been  going  on 
a  year,  many  great  battles  having  been  fought  and 
many  officers  having  already  achieved  a  national 
renown.  But  Capt.  Sheridan,  who  was  to  be 
known  in  the  history  of  the  war  as  one  of  its  great¬ 
est  fighters  and  one  of  those  whose  specialty  was 
the  command  and  tactical  handling  of  troops  on  the 
field  of  battle,  had  not  yet  taken  part  in  the  small¬ 
est  skirmish,  and  even  at  Halleck’s  headquarters 
was  resuming  a  Quartermaster’ s  functions. 

Then,  at  last,  his  fortune  changed.  It  chanced 
that  the  Governor  of  Michigan  applied  to  Gen.  Hal- 
leck  to  furnish  him  a  regular  officer  to  be  Colonel 
of  the  Second  Michigan  Cavalry.  Gen.  Halleck 
had  served  in  California  while  Sheridan  was  on  that 
coast,  and  knew  that  that  the  latter  had  had  com¬ 
mand  of  dragoons  ;  besides,  he  was  at  hand  and 
available  for  any  duty.  He  replied  that  there  hap¬ 
pened  to  be  at  his  headquarters,  and  temporarily  on 
his  staff,  a  proper  officer  for  his  purpose,  and  on 
the  25th  of  May,  1862,  Capt.  Sheridan  became  Col¬ 
onel  of  the  Second  Michigan  Cavalry. 

His  active  field  career  began  at  once.  He  led  his 
regiment  a  few  days  after  his  appointment  to  the 
occupation  of  Boone ville,  Miss.,  and  took  part  in 
the  advance  upon  the  enemy  from  Corinth  to  Bald¬ 
win,  having  skirmishes  at  the  latter  point,  and  at 
Blackland  and  Donaldson’s  Cross-roads.  Then, 
put  in  charge  of  a  cavalry  brigade  composed  of  his 
own  regiment  and  the  Second  Iowa,  he  was  directed 
by  Gen.  Rosecrans  to  station  himself  at  Booneville, 
on  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad.  There  he  was 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


15 


attacked  on  the  1st  of  July,  the  enemy  driving 
*  back  his  pickets.  The  fighting  was  very  sharp, 
and  Ool.  Sheridan  detached  a  portion  of  his 
command  under  Major  K,.  A.  Alger,  Second  Mich¬ 
igan,  to  take  the  Blackland  road  and  attack  the 
enemy  in  the  flank  and  rear.  The  following  ac¬ 
count  of  the  result  is  in  Gen.  Sheridan’s  own 
words : 

“  He  went  off,  and  I  moved  from  where  I  was, 
near  my  headquarters  tent  (I  had  not  discouraged 
the  men  by  taking  down  my  headquarters),  out 
on  the  line  of  battle,  just  west  of  the  railroad  track, 
in  the  village  of  Booneville.  The  fighting  was  sharp 
along  the  line,  and  the  firing  of  the  enemy  seemed 
to  show  so  much  numerical  strength  I  had  the  great¬ 
est  anxiety  to  hear  from  Major  Alger.  The  hour — 
the  time  set  to  hear  from  him — was  up,  but  there 
was  no  cheering,  so  I  ordered  the  charge  on  the 
enemy,  which  was  my  part  of  the  arrangement,  and 
just  at  that  moment  a  locomotive  and  two  platform 
cars,  loaded  with  bales  of  hay  for  the  horses  of  my 
command,  came  down  the  track  from  the  main  army 
in  the  rear,  right  into  Booneville  and  just  behind 
the  line  of  battle.  As  the  troops  knew  I  had  sent 
back  for  reinforcements  to  help  us,  I  thought  if  the 
engineer  were  made  to  blow  his  whistle  it  would 
give  them' encouragement,  so  I  galloped  to  him  and 
ordered  it  to  be  sounded  loudly  and  continuously. 
The  men  heard  it  and  believed  the  reinforcements 
had  arrived,  and  I  have  reason  to  suppose  the  enemy 
thought  so  too.  I  never  heard  such  wild  cheering 
as  occurred  on  our  part.  The  enemy  broke  and  ran, 


i 


16 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


not  only  on  the  road,  but  all  over  the  country.  He 
was  defeated. 

“  Now,  to  go  back  to  Major  Alger.  He  followed 
the  enemy  with  his  command  armed  only  with 
sabres  and  Colt’s  six-shooting  pistols.  The  enemy 
was  principally  on  the  Blackland  road,  and  the  first 
thing  the  Major  struck  was  the  Hebei  headquarters, 
which  were  captured  and  taken  back  to  a  white 
farmhouse  in  the  rear  by  a  small  escort  under  Lieut. 
Schuyler  of  the  Second  Michigan.  The  charge  was 
continued  into  the  rear  of  the  enemy  as  far  as  Major 
Alger  could  go.  He  was  unable  to  come  through  to 
me,  as  the  enemy  was  too  strong,  nor  did  he  get 
near  enough  for  me  to  hear  his  cheering,  but,  singu¬ 
lar  as  it  may  seem,  it  was  at  the  same  time  that  I 
made  the  charge  in  front,  and  probably  was  instru¬ 
mental  in  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  by  my  small 
force.  The  enemy,  as  I  heard  afterward  by  prison¬ 
ers,  thought  he  was  charged  by  a  large  force  in 
front  and  a  large  force  in  rear.  At  all  events 
he  broke  and  ran. 

“  My  whole  force,  as  I  have  said  before,  was  827 
men,  of  which  Major  Alger’s  command  numbered 
about  90.  We  followed  up  the  enemy  rapidly. 
Major  Alger,  finding  he  could  not  get  through, 
turned  back  the  way  he  had  gone,  but  only  about 
one-half,  or  a  little  less  than  one-half,  returned,  and 
many  of  those  brave  fellows  came  back  on  the  horses 
of  their  comrades,  riding  double,  many  of  them 
wounded.  I  remember  very  well  that  nearly  all  had 
lost  their  hats.  Major  Alger  did  not  come  back, 
and  for  a  short  time  I  thought  he  had  been  killed, 
and  his  command  thought  so  too,  but  while  in  pur 


ST-fWPT 


r-f:  jsmJih  'r.  ?'.  ,  Mfn (■*••. 


y*4/,  • 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


17 


suit  of  the  enemy  I  had  the  pleasure  and  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  meeting  him.  He  was  dismounted  by  the 
limbs  of  a  tree  and  run  over  by  the  enemy,  without 
being  noticed  in  their  retreat  from  my  charge  in 
front.’’ 

This  combat  is  interesting  to  note  as  being  the 
first  in  which  Sheridan  held  an  independent  com¬ 
mand.  The  following  day,  July  2,  1861,  Gen.  Rose- 
crans  issued  a  complimentary  order,  which,  barring 
the  exaggerations  that  were  common  to  both  sides 
at  that  period  of  the  war  and  were  natural  in  the 
necessary  absence  of  exact  information,  will  be  read 
with  interest : 

“  General  Orders  No.  81. — The  General  com¬ 
manding  announces  to  his  army  that  on  the  1st  inst. 
Col.  P.  H.  Sheridan,  Second  Michigan  Cavalry, 
with  11  companies  of  the  Second  Michigan  and  11 
companies  of  the  second  Iowa,  was  attacked  near 
Booneville  by  eight  regiments  of  rebel  cavalry 
under  Chalmers,  and  after  an  eight  hours’  fight  de¬ 
feated  and  drove  them  back,  leaving  their  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  field. 

“  The  coolness,  and  determination,  and  fearless 
gallantry  displayed  by  Col.  Sheridan  and  the  offi¬ 
cers  and  men  of  his  command  in  this  action  deserve 
the  thanks  and  admiration  of  the  army.” 

Col.  Sheridan’s  appointment  as  Brigadier-Gen¬ 
eral  of  volunteers  dates  from  July  1,  1862,  which,  it 
will  be  observed,  was  the  day  of  this  fight  at  Boone¬ 
ville.  His  troops  had  suffered  little,  if  any,  loss  in 


18 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


that  affair,  and  it  had  brought  him  a  high  reward 
Next  he  went  to  Guntown  with  a  flag  of  truce,  then 
occupied  the  town  of  Ripley,  and  in  a  subsequent 
reconnoissance  at  Guntown,  in  August,  captured 
several  prisoners  and  300  animals,  following  this 
with  a  skirmish  near  Rienzi. 

The  autumn  of  1863  found  Gen.  Sheridan  still  rap¬ 
idly  advancing.  He  had  received  the  command  of  a 
division  in  Gilbert’s  corps  of  Gen.  Buell’s  Army  of 
the  Ohio,  which  was  resisting  Bragg’s  advance  into 
Kentucky.  In  command  of  this  called  the  Eleventh 
Division  of  the  Third  Corps,  he  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Chaplin’s  Hills,  or  Perry ville,  on  the  8th 
of  October.  In  this,  his  first  engagement  of  impor¬ 
tance,  Sheridan  performed  good  service  in  covering 
the  right  of  McCook’s  division  alone  the  line  of 
Doctor’s  Creek,  which  flows  into  Chaplin’s  River  near 
Perryville,  and  distinguished  himself  for  discreet 
judgment  as  well  as  ability  to  handle  troops.  The 
army  then  marched  forward  to  the  relief  of  Nash¬ 
ville,  and  when  its  command  was  transferred  from 
Buell  to  Rosecrans,  Sheridan’s  division  became 
successively  known  as  the  Eleventh  and  the  Third 
of  the  Fourteenth  Corps  and  the  Third  of  the 
Twentieth. 


MURFREESBORO. 

It  was  under  Rosecrans  that  Gen.  Sheridan  per¬ 
haps  first  gave  full  evidence  of  his  real  genius  as 
a  soldier  by  his  conduct  in  the  great  battle  of  Stone 
River,  or  Murfreesboro.  This  prolonged  and  san- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


19 


guinary  engagement  took  place  on  the  last  day  of 
the  year  1862  and  the  first  two  days  of  1863.  Bragg 
was  at  Murfreesboro  in  force.  The  Union  army 
was  drawn  up  until  it  reached  the  west  side  of 
Stone  River,  the  left  wing  consisting  of  three 
divisions  under  Crittenden,  the  centre  of  two  under 
Thomas,  and  the  right  of  three  under  McCook. 
These  last  were  the  divisions  of  Sheridan,  Davis, 
and  Johnson,  which  were  deployed  and  carried  the 
line  southward  across  the  turnpike  that  runs  from 
Murfreesboro  to  Franklin.  The  left  wing  rested 
on  Stone  River.  Bragg’s  forces  were  also  nearly 
all  upon  the  west  side  of  that  stream  excejyt  one 
division,  Breckinridge’s,  which  was  on  the  east 
side.  Rosecran’s  disposition  was  made  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  attacking  with  the  left  and  centre,  while 
the  right  was  simply  to  hold  the  enemy’s  left  in 
check.  But  it  chanced  that  Bragg  also  had  a  plan 
for  taking  the  aggressive,  and  as  bold  a  one  as  the 
plan  of  Rosecrans,  it  being  that  of  turning  the 
Union  right  and  thus  seizing  Rosecrans’ s  line  of 
communications  with  his  base  at  Nashville.  Re¬ 
garded  in  the  light  of  this  purpose,  the  Union  right 
was  far  from  well  posted.  McCook’s  corps  was 
placed  from  right  to  left  in  the  order  of  Johnson, 
Davis,  and  Sheridan,  and  while  it  was  somewhat 
faulty  in  facing  too  much  to  the  east  while  it  should 
have  faced  more  to  the  south,  and  was  hardly  com¬ 
pact  enough  to  resist  attack,  the  right  division, 
Johnson’s,  was  almost  “in  the  air,”  having,  to  be 
sure,  one  brigade  drawn  back,  and  so  facing  as  to 
partly  protect  the  rear,  but  still  not  supported 
there.  As  a  consequence,  while  Rosecrans  on  the 


20 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


morning  of  the  great  battle  jubilantly  moved  his 
left  across  the  river  with  intent  to  swing  it  into 
Murfreesboro,  Bragg  was  diligently  pursuing  his 
plan  of  massing  his  troops  to  destroy  the  Union 
right.  Since  his  tactics  contained  the  least  pre¬ 
liminary  marching,  the  initiative  was  practically 
secured  by  him,  and  the  first  warning  of  Rosecrans 
that  his  own  plan  had  failed  was  the  practical  over¬ 
whelming  of  Johnson’s  division.  He  promptly 
retracted  his  steps  in  order  to  save  his  communica¬ 
tions  by  accepting  the  gage  of  battle  where  it  had 
been  thrown  down.  But  before  he  could  relieve  the 
hard-pressed  right,  Davis’s  division,  in  its  turn  un¬ 
covered  by  the  overwhelming  of  Johnson’s,  had 
been  forced  to  give  way  after  nobly  resisting  several 
impetuous  attacks  of  Cleburne. 

Then  came  the  turn  of  Sheridan.  Fortunately  he 
had  had  time  to  prepare,  and  with  that  intuition 
which  distinguished  him  on  later  fields,  he  rapidly 
changed  front  so  as  to  form  a  line  at  right  angles  to 
his  former  one,  and  for  two  hours  fought  a  splendid 
defensive  battle.  His  line  consisted  of  the  brigades 
of  Sill  and  Roberts,  with  Shafer’s  in  reserve.  It 
lay  in  the  edge  of  a  cedar  brake.  Three  batteries 
swept  the  approach  in  front,  which  was  an  open 
cotton-field.  The  enemy  came  on  exultantly,  and 
was  mowed  down  by  a  terrible  fire  from  the  guns, 
yet  would  not  go  back  until  within  short  infantry 
range,  when  a  tremendous  fire  from  the  troops  that 
had  been  lying  in  the  timber  broke  up  the  attack. 
With  soldierly  instinct  young  Sill,  Sheridan’s 
former  classmate  at  West  Point,  charged  out  of  the 
woods  at  the  head  of  his  brigade  across  the  field, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


21 


and  hastened  the  enemy’s  retreat,  achieving  a 
splendid  success  at  the  heavy  cost  of  his  own  life. 
Sheridan  then  sent  the  brigade  of  Col.  Roberts 
to  charge  into  the  adjoining  woods,  where  his  flank 
was  again  threatened.  Once  more  he  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  change  front,  and  this  time  he  got  his 
left  into  close  junction  with  Negley’s  division  of 
Thomas’s  command,  while  drawing  in  the  other  two 
brigades  so  as  to  cover  the  rear  of  the  main  line. 
In  that  position  he  again  sustained  the  repeated 
attacks  of  the  enemy  until  his  troops,  some  of  whom 
had  nearly  exhausted  their  ammunition,  were  com¬ 
pletely  overborne.  But  he  had  splendidly  sustained 
his  part  of  the  conflict.  “It  was  eleven  o’clock,” 
says  one  writer,  4  4  when  Sheridan’ s  division,  with 
compact  ranks  and  empty  cartridge-boxes,  de¬ 
bouched  from  the  cedar  thickets  to  the  open  plain 
stretching  along  the  Murfreesboro  turnpike.  He 
had  lost  1796  men,  and  with  the  cost  of  their  heroic 
lives  had  won  three  hours,  which  Rosecrans,  to 
whom  he  now  reported,  had  been  using  to  the  best 
advantage.  4 4 Here  is  all  that  are  left,”  said  he 
sadly,  as  he  joined  his  chief.  The  severity  of  the 
battle  may  be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  all 
three  of  Sheridan’s  brigade  commanders  were 
killed. 

After  Sheridan’s  division  had  at  length  been 
swept  back,  the  struggle  still  went  on  fiercely,  and 
the  memorable  firmness  of  Thomas  there,  as  after¬ 
ward  at  Chickamauga,  proved  of  invaluable  service. 
The  day  closed  with  both  armies  still  on  the  field. 
The  succeeding  days  witnessed  less  vigorous  fight¬ 
ing,  and  at  last  Bragg  voluntarily  withdrew,  leaving 


22  LIFE  OF  GEtf.  SIIERIDAIsr. 

Murfreesboro,  the  prize  contended  for,  in  the  hands 
of  Rosecrans. 

The  following  March,  Sheridan  was  engaged  at 
Eagleville,  capturing  trains  and  provisions,  and 
pursued  Van  Dorn  from  Franklin  to  Columbia. 
When  the  advance  of  Rosecrans  to  Tullahoma  took 
place  in  June,  Sheridan’s  division  led  the  advance 
and  crossed  the  Cumberland  Mountains  and  the 
Tennessee,  with  combats  at  Fairfield,  Cowan  Sta¬ 
tion,  and  University,  the  latter  on  the  mountain 
top,  in  a  sort  of  national  celebration  of  July  4, 1868, 
as  if  in  echo  of  those  at  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg. 
He  had  occupied  Winchester  the  day  before. 

This  fine  strategical  move,  known  as  the  Tulla¬ 
homa  campaign,  was  followed  a  few  months  later 
by  the  advance  of  Rosecrans  to  Chattanooga,  and 
the  disastrous  battle  at  Chickamauga,  on  the  19th 
and  20th  of  September,  1863.  The  purpose  of  Rose¬ 
crans  to  attack  and  rout  Bragg  before  occupying 
Chattanooga  was  unquestionably  sound  ;  but  the 
manner  of  putting  it  into  execution  proved  to  be  a 
faulty,  and  the  reinforcement  of  Bragg  by  Long- 
street  from  Virginia  placed  Rosecrans  in  a  plight 
which  threatened  the  ruin  of  his  army.  But  Thomas 
again  u  plucked  up  drowning  honor  by  the  locks,” 
and  saved  the  Union  army  from  a  great  disaster. 
Sheridan’s  division  was  one  of  those  that  suffered 
from  a  misunderstanding  of  orders  and  the  rupture 
of  the  line  at  Chickamauga  causing  the  portion  of 
the  army  to  which  he  was  assigned  to  be  driven 
from  the  field.  During  the  stubborn  resistance 
which  his  division  offered  there,  still  another  of  his 
brigade  commanders,  Gen.  Lytle,  was  killed. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


23 


But  the  chagrin  thus  suffered  was  brief.  When 
Thomas  received  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  whose  retreat  to  the  stronghold  of 
Chattanooga  he  had  magnificently  covered  and  in¬ 
sured,  and  when  Grant,  having  assumed  command 
at  that  point,  undertook  to  dislodge  Bragg  from 
the  heights  of  Missionary  Ridge,  in  the  great  battle 
of  Nov.  25,  1863,  Sheridan’s  command  was  in  the 
foremost  line  ascending  the  heights.  He  crossed 
the  ridge  close  by  Bragg’ s  headquarters,  and  instead 
of  halting  pushed  on  a  mile  beyond,  making  fresh 
captures  of  artillery  and  prisoners.  Then  his  tired 
troops  went  into  bivouac,  but  wdien  the  full  moon 
rose  bright  on  the  field  of  victory,  at  midnight,  on 
Granger’s  suggestion  Sheridan  again  advanced  as 
far  as  Chickamauga  Creek,  capturing  more  pris¬ 
oners  and  stores. 

After  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  Gen.  Sheridan 
took  part  in  operations  in  East  Tennessee,  and  in 
January,  1864,  was  engaged  at  Dandridge.  But  the 
time  approached  for  still  larger  opportunities  for 
fame  and  service.  Grant  had  been  made  Lieuten¬ 
ant-General,  and  had  transferred  the  scene  of  his 
immediate  operations  to  Virginia.  He  needed  a 
commander  of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  Halleck  asked,  “Why  not  take 
Sheridan  \  ”  and  Grant  replied,  “  The  very  man  !  ” 
Thus  a  second  time  Halleck  had  made  a  happy  sug¬ 
gestion  for  Sheridan’s  advancement,  and  it  should 
be  remembered  to  his  credit. 

Transferred  to  his  new  duties,  Sheridan  started 
with  his  cavalry  corps  on  the  great  Virginia  cam¬ 
paign  which  began  at  the  Rapidan  and  ended  at 


24 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


Appomattox  III  tlie  Wilderness  campaign  lie  was 
engaged  at  Todd’ s  Tavern,  on  May  5  and  7,  and  at 
the  Furnaces  on  the  intervening  day.  A  portion 
of  his  cavalry  occupied  and  held  for  a  time  Spott- 
sylvania  Court  House.  Then  he  made  a  great  swoop 
in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  cutting  the  Virginia 
Central  and  Richmond  &  Fredericksburg  railroads. 
His  troops  were  engaged  successively  at  Beaver  Dam, 
Yellow  Tavern,  Meadow  Bridges,  and  in  the  outskirts 
of  Richmond  ;  then,  a  fortnight  later,  near  the  end 
of  May,  at  Hanovertown  and  Totopotomoy  Creek, 
Hawe’s  Shop,  Metadequin  Creek,  and  Cold  Harbor. 
Early  in  June  he  made  a  long  raid  to  Charlottes¬ 
ville,  lightingat  Trevillian  Station,  Mallory’s  Ford, 
Tunstall,  St.  Mary’s  Church,  and  Darbytown,  re¬ 
turning  to  the  James  River  June  28,  and  then  was 
engaged  at  Lee’s  Mills. 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY. 

The  vigor  thus  exhibited  brought  him  into  high 
favor  with  Gen.  Grant ;  and  when  Early  made  his 
famous  raid  through  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to 
Washington,  threatening  that  city,  and  then,  fall¬ 
ing  back  into  the  valley,  stationed  himself  there  as 
if  to  hold  it,  Grant  chose  Sheridan  as  the  man  to 
take  the  command  there  and  drive  him  out.  On 
the  7th  of  August  Sheridan  received  the  command 
of  the  middle  military  division,  with  a  force  com¬ 
posed  of  a  large  part'  of  his  own  cavalry  corps 
under  Torbert,  the  Sixth  Corps  under  Wright,  and 


LIFi;.  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAjST. 


25 


a  portion  of  the  Nineteenth  under  Emory,  with  the 
Eighth,  oftener  called  the  Army  of  West  Virginia, 
under  Crook.  This  was  known  as  the  Army  of  the 
Shenandoah. 

With  this  force  he  promptly  drove  Early  back 
from  Winchester  to  Strasburg,  with  slight  skir¬ 
mishes  at  Kernstown  and  Kabletown.  The  rein¬ 
forcement  of  Early’s  troops  from  Lee’s  army  caused 
Sheridan  in  turn  to  withdraw  to  Harper’s  Ferry. 
Sheridan  knew,  however,  that  before  long  a  demand 
would  be  made  for  the  return  of  these  extra  troops 
to  Lee,  who  needed  them.  Meanwhile  he  had,  in 
conformity  with  orders  received  from  Grant,  de¬ 
stroyed  all  crops  and  supplies  as  far  as  Strasburg. 
The  instructions  of  Grant  had  been  as  follows  : 

“  In  pushing  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  as  it  is 
expected  you  will  have  to  go,  first  or  last,  it  is  de¬ 
sirable  that  nothing  should  be  left  to  invite  the 
enemy  to  return.  Take  all  provisions,  forage,  and 
stock  wanted  for  the  use  of  your  command  ;  such 
as  can  not  be  consumed,  destroy.  It  is  not  desirable 
that  buildings  should  be  destroyed — they  should 
rather  be  protected  ;  but  the  x^eople  should  be  in¬ 
formed  that  so  long  as  an  army  can  subsist  among 
them  recurrences  of  these  raids  must  be  expected, 
and  we  are  determined  to  stop  them  at  all  hazards.” 

Grant,  who  had  been  anxious  to  force  Early  back 
as  soon  as  possible,  visited  Sheridan  to  consult  with 
him,  but  “saw,”  says  his  report,  “that  there  were 
but  two  words  of  instruction  necessary.  Go  in  !  ” 
He  added  that  “the  result  was  such  that  I  have 


26 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKTDAN. 


never  since  deemed  it  necessary  to  visit  Sheridan 
before  giving  him  orders.”  On  the  19th  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  having  heard,  by  his  spies,  of  the  previous 
return  of  a  portion  of  Early’s  forces  at  Winchester 
to  Lee,  Sheridan  crossed  the  Opequan  Creek  with 
his  army  and  vigorously  attacked  the  enemy  drawn 
up  in  front  of  Winchester.  His  line  was  formed 
with  the  Nineteenth  Corps  on  the  right  and  the 
Sixth  on  the  left,  and  with  Crook’s  corps  in  reserve, 
the  cavalry  operating  on  each  flank.  A  fierce  open- 
field  battle  resulted,  during  which  at  one  moment 
Early  succeeded  in  breaking  in  at  the  junction  of 
the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps.  But  the  peril  was 
temporary  ;  and  when  Crook  had  been  brought  up, 
and  the  cavalry  on  the  right  had  come  into  full 
play,  the  enemy  was  driven  completely  from  the 
field  up  the  turnpike  toward  Strasburg.  Sheridan 
at  once  sent  his  faipous  dispatch:  “  We  have  just 
sent  them  whirling  through  Winchester,  and  we 
are  after  them  to-morrow.  This  army  behaved 
splendidly.”  The  news  caused  the  greatest  excite¬ 
ment  through  the  North.  Grant  ordered  200 
guns  to  be  fired  in  honor  of  it,  and  sent  this 
dispatch : 

“I  congratulate  you  and  the  army  serving  under 
you  for  the  great  victory  just  achieved.  It  has  been 
most  opportune  in  point  of  time  and  effect.  It  will 
open  again  to  the  Government  and  to  the  public 
the  very  important  line  of  road  from  Baltimore  to 
the  Ohio,  and  also  the  Chesapeake  Canal.  Better 
still,  it  wipes  out  much  of  the  stain  up>on  our  arms 
by  previous  disasters  in  that  locality.  May  your 


LIFE  OP  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


27 


good  work  continue,  is  now  the  prayer  of  all  loyal 
men.” 

President  Lincoln  also  sent  a  characteristic  dis¬ 
patch  : 

‘ ‘  Have  j list  heard  of  your  great  victory.  God  bless 
you  all,  officers  and  men.  Strongly  inclined  to  come 
up  and  see  you.  A.  Lincoln.” 

The  Union  loss  was  about  5000  men,  of  whom 
4300  were  killed  or  wounded  ;  Early’s  was  about 
4000,  of  whom  2000  were  prisoners.  As  his  force 
was  much  smaller  than  Sheridan’s,  the  loss  fell 
more  irreparably  upon  him.  Sheridan  also  cap¬ 
tured  live  guns.  For  this  brilliant  victory  Gen. 
Sheridan  received  promotion  to  be  a  Brigadier- Gen¬ 
eral  in  the  regular  army,  and  we  should  have  noted 
before  that  he  had  been  made  Major-General  of 
volunteers  for  his  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Murfrees¬ 
boro. 

Without  pausing  to  allow  his  enemy  to  recover, 
Sheridan  the  next  day  followed  him  up  the  turn¬ 
pike  to  Strasburg  and  attacked  him  on  the  23d  in 
his  strong  works  at  Fisher’s  Hill.  The  place  had 
been  deemed  almost  impregnable,  but  Sheridan,  by 
a  carefully  concealed  movement,  sent  Crook’s  com¬ 
mand  to  turn  the  enemy’s  left  while  the  main  force 
attacked  in  front,  and  the  result  was  a  second  over¬ 
whelming  defeat  for  Early.  Ho  thing  could  resist 
the  impetuous  attack  of  the  Union  troojjs  under 
Sheridan’s  direction,  and  once  more  the  enemy  was 
driven  up  the  valley  with  a  loss  of  16  guns  and  1300 


28 


LIFE  OF  GEtf.  SHEaIEAIL 


or  1400  men,  while  Sheridan  lost  only  about  400. 
Early  wrote  to  Lee  the  following  account : 

“The  enemy’s  immense  superiority  in  cavalry 
and  the  inefficiency  of  the  greater  part  of  mine  has 
been  the  cause  of  all  my  disasters.  In  the  affair  at 
Fisher’s  Hill  the  cavalry  gave  way,  but  it  was 
flanked.  This  would  have  been  remedied  if  the 
troops  had  remained  steady,  but  a  panic  seized 
them  at  the  idea  of  being  flanked,  and,  without 
being  defeated,  they  broke,  many  of  them  fleeing 
shamefully.  The  artillery  was  not  captured  by  the 
enemy,  but  abandoned  by  the  infantry.  My  troops 
are  very  much  shattered,  the  men  very  much  ex¬ 
hausted,  and  many  of  them  without  shoes.” 

Sheridan  continued  to  follow  up  Early,  until  the 
latter  had  retreated  so  far  that  Sheridan,  always 
wary,  no  matter  how  vigorous,  determined  that  he 
would  no  longer  move  away  from  his  base  of  sup¬ 
plies,  especially  as  irregular  forces  were  operating 
against  his  communications.  Accordingly  he  re¬ 
turned,  burning  the  valley  as  he  went  down. 

“I  commenced  moving  back  from  Port  Republic, 
Mount  Crawford,  Bridgewater,  and  Harrisonburg 
yesterday  morning.  The  grain  and  forage  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  these  points  had  previously  been  destroyed. 
In  moving  back  to  this  point  the  whole  country, 
from  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  North  Mountain,  has 
been  made  entirely  untenable  for  a  Rebel  army.  I 
have  destroyed  over  2000  barns  filled  with  wheat, 
hay,  and  farming  implements  ;  over  70  mills  filled 
with  flour  and  wheat  ;  have  driven  in  front  of  the 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


29 


army  over  four  herd  of  stock,  and  have  killed  and 
issued  to  the  troops  not  less  than  3000  sheep.  This 
destruction  embraces  the  Luray  Yalley  and  Little 
Fort  Yalley,  as  well  as  the  main  valley.  A  large 
number  of  horses  have  been  obtained,  a  proper  esti¬ 
mate  of  which  I  can  not  now  make. 

44  Lieut.  John  It.  Meigs,  my  engineer  officer,  was 
murdered  beyond  Harrisonburg,  near  Dayton.  For 
this  atrocious  act  all  the  houses  within  an  area  of 
live  miles  were  burned.  Since  I  came  into  the  val¬ 
ley  from  Harper’s  Ferry  every  train,  every  small 
party,  and  every  straggler  has  been  bushwhacked 
by  people,  many  of  whom  ha  ve  protection  papers 
from  commanders  who  have  been  hitherto  in  the 
valley. 

4  4  From  the  vicinity  of  Harrisonburg  over  400 
wagon-loads  of  refugees  have  been  sent  back  to 
Martinsburg.  Most  of  the  people  were  Dunkers, 
and  had  been  conscripted.  The  people  here  are 
getting  sick  of  the  war.  Heretofore  they  have  had 
no  reason  to  complain,  because  they  have  been  liv¬ 
ing  in  great  abundance.” 

Early,  however,  who  had  been  reinforced,  prompt¬ 
ly  followed  with  cavalry  under  Rosser,  who  had 
been  sent  by  Lee  to  his  aid.  Thereupon  Sheridan 
ordered  Torbert  to  halt  and  44  whip  the  rebel  cav¬ 
alry,  or  get  whipped  himself,”  Torbert  chose  the 
former  alternative,  and  Merritt  and  Custer,  at  Toni’s 
Brook,  Oct  9,  drove  back  Lomax  and  Rosser, 
Merritt  capturing  five  guns  and  Custer  six,  with 
other  spoils.  Sheridan  sent  this  news  to  Grant :  44 1 
directed  Torbert  to  attack  at  daylight  this  morning 


30 


LIFE  OF  GElST.  SHERIDAN. 


and  finish  this  £  saviour  of  the  valley.’  The  enemy, 
after  being  charged  by  onr  gallant  cavalry,  was 
broken  and  ran.  They  were  followed  by  our  men 
on  the  jump  26  miles  through  Mount  Jackson  and 
across  North  Fork  of  the  Shenandoah.  I  deemed 
it  best  to  make  this  delay  of  one  day  here  and  set¬ 
tle  this  new  cavalry  general.” 

Having  reached  Strasburg,  Gen.  Sheridan  posted 
his  army  in  a  strong  position  just  beyond  at  Cedar 
Creek,  and  then  proceeded  personally,  on  Oct.  15, 
to  Washington  in  response  to  a  request  from  Secre¬ 
tary  Stanton,  who  wished  to  consult  him.  Mean¬ 
while  Early,  who  had  followed  the  Union  forces 
down  the  valley,  determined  to  attack  them  in 
their  camp  at  Cedar  Creek.  Aided  by  a  heavy  fog 
in  the  early  morning  of  the  19tli,  he  suceeeded  in 
surprising  Crook’s  command,  which  was  the  near¬ 
est,  and  by  an  impetuous  attack  completely  routed 
it,  having  fallen  upon  Thorburn’s  division  while 
the  men  were  still  asleep  in  their  tents.  Gen. 
Wright,  who,  as  senior  officer,  was  in  command, 
instantly  made  dispositions  to  repair  the  disaster, 
but  the  falling  back  of  Crook  uncovered  the  Nine¬ 
teenth  Corps,  and,  despite  its  utmost  exertions, 
made  its  position  untenable.  The  Sixth  Corps  and 
the  cavalry  were  got  rapidly  over  to  the  turnpike, 
and  a  desperate  struggle  ensued  to  hold  that  road. 
Getty’s  division,  which  was  directly  on  the  pike, 
was  especially  pressed,  but  held  its  position  with 
tenacity,  finely  supported  by  the  cavalry  on  the 
other  side  of  the  pike.  The  Union  camps,  however, 
were  all  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  some  of 
whom  were  plundering  them. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


31 


At  this  juncture  Sheridan  appeared  on  the  scene. 
He  was  on  his  way  back  from  Washington  and  had 
passed  the  night  at  Winchester.  In  the  morning 
the  noise  of  the  firing,  which  was  heard  even  at 
Harper’s  Ferry,  convinced  him  that  a  battle  was 
going  on.  About  9  o’clock  he  mounted  his  horse 
to  ride  to  his  camp,  and  he  had  got  a  very  little 
way  from  the  town  when  a  stream  of  fugitives 
from  the  field  told  him  of  probable  disaster.  Put¬ 
ting  spurs  to  his  horse  he  rapidly  dashed  up  the 
pike  to  his  army,  at  a  distance  of  11^  miles  from 
Winchester.  As  he  rode  along  he  called  on  the 
fugitives  to  turn  back,  and  many  of  them  did  so. 
Arriving  at  the  line  he  was  greeted  with  cheers  on 
every  hand,  and  the  news  was  spread  from  man  to 
man  even  where  he  was  not  seen. 

Sheridan’s  army  still  held  the  turnpike  and  still 
largely  outnumbered  the  enemy.  He  therefore  at 
once  prepared  to  resume  the  offensive,  and  having 
his  forces  well  in  hand  advanced  upon  the  enemy, 
whose  line  was  somewhat  disordered  by  the  morn¬ 
ing’  s  successes,  and  after  a  stubborn  contest  utterly 
routed  it,  driving  it  in  the  utmost  confusion  back 
across  Cedar  Creek.  To  such  a  transformation 
scene  the  war  perhaps  presents  no  parallel.  Early’s 
loss  was  about  3000  ;  the  Union  troops  lost  6764. 

This  battle,  with  its  dramatic  features,  at  once 
made  Sheridan  the  hero  of  the  day.  Poets  sang  of 
his  ride  from  Winchester  and  painters  depicted  it. 
Grant  wrote  that  “  turning  what  had  bid  fair  to  be 
a  disaster  into  glorious  victory  stamped  Sheridan 
what  I  always  thought  him,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
generals.”  President  Lincoln  sent  this  dispatch ; 


32 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SIIEKIDAN. 


“With  great  pleasure  I  tender  to  you  and  your 
brave  army  the  thanks  of  the  nation  and  my  own 
personal  admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  month’s 
operations  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  espec¬ 
ially  for  the  splendid  work  of  Oct.  19,  1864.” 

Congress  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  “  Major-Gen. 
Philip  H.  Sheridan  and  to  officers  and  men  under 
his  command  for  the  gallantry,  military  skill,  and 
.  courage  displayed  in  the  brilliant  series  of  victories 
achieved  by  them  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah, 
and  especially  for  their  services  at  Cedar  Pun,  on 
the  19tli  day  of  October,  1864,  which  retrieved  the 
fortunes  of  the  day,  and  thus  averted  a  great  disas¬ 
ter.”  The  legislatures  of  New  York,  Phode  Island, 
and  other  States  also  thanked  him,  while  the  Presi¬ 
dent  appointed  him  a  Major- General  in  the  army, 

4  ‘  for  the  personal  gallantry,  military  skill,  and 
just  confidence  in  the  courage  and  patriotism  of 
your  troops  displayed  by  you  on,  the  19th  day 
of  October  at  Cedar  Pun,  whereby,  under  the 
blessing  of  Providence,  your  routed  army  was 
reorganized,  a  great  national  disaster  averted,  and 
a  brilliant  victory  achieved  over  the  Pebels  for 
the  third  time  in  a  pitched  battle  within  thirty 
days.” 

Early  fell  back  to  Newmarket,  and  there  re¬ 
mained  two  weeks.  In  November  he  moved  down 
as  if  to  attack  Sheridan,  but  evidently  thought 
better  of  it.  Sheridan  destroved  all  the  barns  and 
crops  in  Loudoun  County,  but  there  were  few  other 
operations  until  spring,  and  Early  went  up  to  Staun¬ 
ton  for  winter  quarters,  and  then  nearly  all  his 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


33 


troops  were  sent  back  to  Lee  at  Petersburg.  The 
Sixth  Corps  had  been  sent  back  to  Grant. 

On  the  27th  of  February  Sheridan  moved  up  the 
valley  with  10,000  cavalry  under  Merritt,  with  or¬ 
ders  to  destroy  the  Central  Railroad  and  the  canal, 
to  capture  Lynchburg  if  possible,  and  then  to  join 
Sherman  in  North  Carolina  or  return  to  Winchester. 
Finding  a  remnant  of  Early’s  command  at  Waynes¬ 
boro  he  fell  on  it  and  captured  nearly  the  whole  of 
it,  guns,  wagons,  tents,  and  stores.  Incessant  rains 
made  terrible  roads,  but  he  pushed  on,  and  using 
his  discretion,  ended  his  march  by  joining  Grant  at 
Petersburg  after  “  destroying  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  Canal  and  cutting  the  Gordonsville  & 
Lynchburg,  Virginia  Central  and  Richmond  & 
Fredericksburg  railroads,  and  destroying  many 
railroads,  canal  and  road  and  river  bridges  and 
trestlework,  and  capturing  and  destroying  60  canal- 
boats,  containing  large  quantities  of  Rebel  govern¬ 
ment  property,  consisting  of  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores,  clothing,  camp  and  garrison  equipage,  com¬ 
missary  stores  and  medical  supplies,  and  destroying 
hundreds  of  army  wagons  and  ambulances,  and  sev¬ 
eral  factories,  warehouses,  tanneries,  forges,  and 
workshops,  used  for  the  manufacture  of  and  filled 
with  military  supplies  of  the  description  above 
enumerated,  and  capturing  18  battle-flags,  1600 
prisoners,  and  2143  horses  and  mules.” 

The  course  taken  by  Sheridan  was  fortunate,  for 
it  brought  him  into  position  for  the  last  grand  strug¬ 
gle  of  the  war.  When  Grant,  at  the  close  of  March, 
1865,  began  the  movements  which  resulted  in  the 
downfall  of  Petersburg  and  the  capture  of  Rich- 


34 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


mond,  Sheridan,  placed  on  the  left,  piloted  the  way 
with  his  cavalry.  His  first  march  brought  him  to 
Dinwiddie  Court  House.  The  primary  aim  of  Grant 
was  to  break  the  last  remaining  railroads  open  to 
Lee  in  order  to  cut  off  his  supplies  and  force  him  to 
surrender.  For  this  purpose  the  familiar  move  by  the 
left  was  once  more  resorted  to,  the  Second  and  Fifth 
Corps  forming  the  infantry  column,  and  Sheridan, 
with  9000  sabres,  making  a  broader  sweep  to  the 
west.  But  after  the  movement  had  begun,  Grant 
sent  word  to  Sheridan  at  Dinwiddie,  instead  of 
raiding  upon  railroads  to  “  push  around  the  enemy 
and  get  on  to  his  right  rear,”  since,  as  he  said,  “I 
now  feel  like  ending  the  matter.”  As  soon  as  Lee 
detected  Grant’s  purpose  he  gathered  up  all  avail¬ 
able  troops  from  liis  intrenched  line  and,  placing 
them  under  the  command  of  Pickett  and  Johnson, 
furiously  attacked  the  Fifth  Corps  at  White  Oak 
Ridge  and  Sheridan  at  Dinwiddie.  The  point  where 
the  White  Oak  Road  crosses  the  road  from  Din¬ 
widdie  to  the  Southside  Railroad  is  called  Five 
Forks,  and  this  Sheridan  had  seized.  The  first  ef¬ 
fort  of  the  Confederate  attack  had  been  to  drive  him 
out  of  Five  Forks,  and  his  cavalry  was  sorely 
pressed  ;  but,  thanks  to  his  tactical  skill,  he  got 
them  in  hand  on  the  retreat  and  placed  them  safely 
behind  the  intrenchments  at  Dinwiddie. 

It  at  once  became  of  the  highest  importance  to 
recapture  Five  Forks,  from  which  by  marching  a 
short  distance  over  the  Ford  road  the  Southside 
Railroad  could  be  reached.  Lee,  recognizing  also 
the  importance  of  this  place,  had  already  concen¬ 
trated  there  the  divisions  of  Pickett  and  Johnson, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  35 

with  the  brigades  of  Wilcox  and  Wise.  Grant,  on 
his  part,  sent  to  the  aid  of  Sheridan  the  Fifth  Corps, 
and  placed  it  under  his  command.  Accordingly 
Sheridan,  on  the  1st  of  April,  the  day  after  his  re¬ 
pulse,  began  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  battle,  which 
was  to  drive  the  enemy  well  within  the  works  at 
Five  Forks  with  cavalry,  making  at  the  same  time 
a  heavy  demonstration  against  his  right,  and  then, 
behind  this  thick  screen  of  cavalry  skirmishers,  to 
secretly  move  the  infantry  corps  across  to  a  point 
where  it  could  strike  and  turn  the  enemy’s  left. 
At  the  same  time,  with  that  unvarying  caution  which 
was  as  striking  a  trait  as  his  vigor,  he  detached  a 
column  of  cavalry,  under  Mackenzie,  to  protect 
what  would  become  his  own  right  and  rear  when  his 
line  was  formed,  and  this  officer,  in  fact,  in  execu¬ 
ting  that  duty,  found  a  body  of  the  enemy,  which 
he  drove  back  to  Petersburg. 

Everything  being  ready,  the  infantry  was  moved 
by  a  left  wheel,  with  Ayres’s  division  as  the  pivot 
and  Crawford’s,  supported  by  Griffin,  as  the  wheel¬ 
ing  flank.  As  Sheridan  had  calculated,  it  over¬ 
lapped  the  Confederate  line  of  parapets,  and  after 
a  sharp  attack,  which  for  a  time  was  left  a  little 
doubtful  by  the  disjoining  of  the  infantry  divi¬ 
sions,  exposing  them  to  a  heavy  flank  fire  from  the 
breastworks,  the  entire  position  was  splendidly 
carried.  The  enemy  broke  and  ran,  pursued  for 
miles  along  the  White  Oak  i;oad  by  Merritt  and 
Mackenzie,  and  leaving  several  thousand  prisoners 
and  four  guns,  with  many  colors,  in  the  hands  of 
Sheridan,  whose  loss  was  less  than  a  thousand  men, 
the  greater  part  of  this  being  in  the  Fifth  Corps. 


36 


LIFE  OF  GE1ST.  SHEKIDAK. 


The  overthrow  of  Lee’ s  right  by  Sheridan  at  Five 
Forks,  followed  immediately  by  the  carrying  of  all 
the  outer  line  of  the  Petersburg  intrenchments, 
made  the  instant  abandonment  of  Richmond  im¬ 
perative.  The  only  line  of  retreat  that  promised 
success  was  that  of  the  Appomattox  River.  The 
day  after  the  battle  of  Five  Forks  Sheridan  moved 
a  few  miles  over  to  the  Southside  Railroad,  striking 
it  at  Ford’s  Station,  and  that  night  Lee’s  lines  at 
Petersburg  and  Richmond  were  virtually  aban¬ 
doned,  while  the  next  morning  the  blowing  up  of 
the  Confederate  iron-clads  and  the  firing  of  the 
tobacco  warehouses  by  Ewell’s  rear  guard  gave  a 
token  to  the  Union  troops  of  what  was  going  on. 
Then  began  a  race  for  life,  Lee  retreating  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Appomatox  and  Grant  pursuing 
on  the  south  side.  The  railroad  from  Richmond 
to  Danville  crosses  the  Southside  Railroad  running 
west  from  Petersburg  at  Burkesville  Junction, 
which  accordingly  became  a  strategic  point  of 
supreme  importance.  Lee  marched  directly  upon 
it,  but  was  pressed  to  halt  for  a  day  at  Amelia 
Court  House  until  he  could  get  rations  and  forage, 
since  supplies  which  he  had  ordered  to  be  kept 
there  had  by  mistake  been  carried  on  to  Richmond, 
where  they  perished  in  the  flames.  He  had  reached 
Amelia  Court  House  on  the  morning  of  April  4, 
and  Sheridan  the  same  afternoon  planted  his  cav¬ 
alry,  the  Fifth  Corps,  directly  across  the  railroad  at 
Jeters ville,  seven  miles  beyond,  being  thus  between 
Lee  and  Burkesville.  The  next  day  Meade  came 
up  to  Jetersville  with  the  Second  and  Sixth  Corps, 
and  meanwhile  that  morning  Sheridan  sent  a  cav- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN’. 


87 


airy  force  under  Davies  still  further  west,  to  Paine’s 
Cross-roads,  where  it  defeated  a  Confederate  force 
and  captured  many  wagons,  five  guns,  and  some 
prisoners. 

Seeing  his  path  southwestward  to  Burkesville 
blocked,  Lee  on  the  night  of  the  5th  moved  west¬ 
ward  toward  Farmville,  intending  there  to  recross 
the  Appomattox  and  reach  Lynchburg.  At  once 
the  Union  army  was  directed  on  a  parallel  route 
from  Jetersville,  Sheridan  leading  with  the  cavalry, 
the  Fifth  Corps  having  been  returned  to  Meade 
He  struck  the  enemy  first  near  Deatonsville,  just 
north  of  Jetersville,  and  gave  orders  which  contem¬ 
plated  successive  attacks  by  divisions  along  the  re¬ 
treating  column,  thus  forcing  it  to  halt  and  defend 
itself.  At  Sailor’s  Creek,  near  Farmville,  he  struck 
the  enemy  again  and  captured  400  wagons,  16  guns, 
and  many  prisoners,  and  then  he  ordered  a  mounted 
charge  of  Stagg’s  brigade  in  order  to  detain  Ewell’s 
corps  until  the  Union  infantry  could  come  up.  The 
Sixth  and  Second  Corps  accordingly  were  engaged 
in  a  hot  fight,  the  former  in  front  of  Ewell,  the 
latter  in  his  rear,  and  Sheridan  on  the  flank,  the  re¬ 
sult  being  the  rout  of  the  corps,  which  was  the  same 
one  that  Sheridan  had  defeated  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  Thousands  of  prisoners  were  captured. 
At  Farmville,  the  next  day,  Sheridan  again  at¬ 
tacked  the  enemy,  capturing  prisoners  and  guns, 
and  at  last,  on  April  9,  all  was  over  with  the  sur¬ 
render  at  Aj>pomattox. 


38 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


SINCE  WAR  TIMES. 

When  Lee  had  surrendered,  Sheridan  was  hurried 
with  a  cavalry  and  infantry  force  into  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  to  Sherman,  but  was  recalled  on  Johnston’s 
capitulation  to  the  latter.  Next  he  received  com¬ 
mand  of  the  forces  west  of  the  Mississippi,  where 
Gen,  Kirby  Smith  threatened  to  continue  hostilities, 
but  that  duty  also  was  quickly  ended  by  Smith’s 
surrender.  Then  he  had  charge  of  the  military 
division  of  the  Southwest,  or  of  the  Gulf,  and  also  of 
the  corps  of  observation  established  on  the  Eio 
Grande  to  watch  the  war  in  Mexico  that  resulted  in 
the  downfall  and  death  of  Maximilian.  Ensuing 
political  troubles  and  riots  in  New  Orleans  caused 
much  criticism  upon  him,  but  the  course  he  took 
there  received  the  sanction  of  Gen.  Grant.  From 
the  Southwest  he  was  transferred  to  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  Missouri,  Sept.  12,  1867,  and  conducted 
the  campaign  against  hostile  Indians  in  the  winter 
of  1868-9,  resulting  in  their  defeat  and  surrender. 

When  Gen.  Grant  was  made  President,  March  4, 
1869,  Lieut. -Gen.  Sherman  was  promoted  to  be  Gen¬ 
eral  in  his  stead,  and  Major-Gen.  Sheridan  to  be 
Lieutenant-General,  the  law  providing  that  these 
two  grades  of  General  and  Lieutenant-General 
should  cease  to  exist  respectively  with  these  in¬ 
cumbents.  The  new  Lieutenant-General  received 
command  of  the  Military  Division  in  Missouri,  with 
headquarters  in  Chicago,  and  afterwards  made  a 
visit  to  Europe.  During  the  Franco-Prussian  war 
of  1870  he  was  a  guest  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
King  of  Prussia  and  present  at  the  battles  of  Grave- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDaN. 


39 


lotte,  Beaumont,  and  Sedan,  and  afterwards  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  German  armies  at  Versailles, 
witnessing  many  engagements  around  Paris  during 
the  siege  of  that  city. 

The  following  letter  was  sent  to  Gen.  Grant  by 
Sheridan,  and  well  illustrates  his  keen  military 
criticism,  and  also  the  terse,  clear,  and  picturesque 
style  of  his  correspondence  : 

Keims,  France,  Sept.  13,  1870. 

My  Dear  Gen.  Grant  :  The  capture  of  the  Em¬ 
peror  Napoleon  and  McMahon’s  army  at  Sedan'  on 
the  1st  of  September  has  thrown  France  into  a  chaos 
which  even  embarrasses  the  Prussian  authorities. 
It  seems  to  a  quiet  observer  as  though  Prussia  had 
done  too  much.  Whom  to  negotiate  with  ?  whom 
to  hold  responsible  in  the  final  settlement  ?  are  be¬ 
coming  grave  questions,  and  one  can  not  see  what 
will  be  the  result.  I  was  present  at  the  battles  of 
Beaumont,  Gravelotte  and  Sedan,  and  have  had  my 
imagination  clipped,  in  seeing  these  battles,  of 
many  of  the  errors  it  had  run  into  in  its  conceptions 
of  what  might  be  expected  of  the  trained  troops  of 
Europe. 

There  was  about  the  same  percentage  of  sneaks,  or 
runaways,  and  the  general  conditions  of  the  battles 
were  about  the  same  as  our  own.  One  thing  was 
especially  noticeable — the  scattered  condition  of  the 
men  in  going  into  battle  and  their  scattered  condi¬ 
tion  while  engaged.  At  Gravelotte,  Beaumont  and 
Sedan  the  men  engaged  on  both  sides  were  so  scat¬ 
tered  that  it  looked  like  thousands  of  men  engaged 
in  a  deadly  skirmish  without  any  regard  to  lines  or 


40 


LIFE  OF  GE1ST.  SHEKIDAN. 


formation.  These  battles  were  of  this  style  of  fight¬ 
ing,  commencing  at  long  range,  and  might  be  called 
progressive  fighting,  closing  at  night  by  the  French 
always  giving  up  their  position,  or  being  driven 
from  it  in  this  way  by  the  Prussians.  The  latter 
had  their  own  strategy  up  to  the  Moselle,  and  it  was 
good  and  successful.  After  that  river  was  reached 
the  French  made  the  strategy  for  the  Prussians,  and 
it  was  more  successful  than  their  own.  The  Prus¬ 
sian  soldiers  are  very  good,  brave  fellows,  all 
young,  scarcely  a  man  over  twenty-seven  in  the  first 
levies.  They  had  gone  into  each  battle  with  the 
determination  to  win.  It  is  especially  noticeable 
also  that  the  Prussians  have  attacked  the  French 
wherever  they  have  found  them,  let  the  numbers  be 
great  or  small,  and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  see, 
though  the  grand  tactics  of  bringing  on  the  engage¬ 
ment  have  been  good,  yet  the  battles  have  been 
won  by  the  good,  square  fighting  of  the  men  and 
junior  officers.  It  is  true  the  Prussians  have  been 
two  to  one  except  in  one  of  the  battles  before  Metz, 
that  of  the  16th  of  August ;  still  the  French  have 
had  the  advantage  of  very  strong  positions. 

Generally  speaking,  the  French  soldiers  have  not 
fought  well.  It  may  be  because  the  poor  fellows 
had  been  discouraged  by  the  trap  into  which  their 
commander  had  led  them,  but  I  must  confess  to 
having  seen  some  of  the  “ tallest”  running  at 
Sedan  I  have  ever  witnessed,  especially  on  the  left 
of  the  French  position — all  attempts  to  make  the 
men  stand  seemed  to  be  unavailing.  So  disgraceful 
was  this  that  it  caused  the  French  cavalry  to  make 
three  or  four  gallant  but  foolish  charges,  as  if  it 


■  ",v  -  .  '  '  .•»« 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


41 


were  to  show  that  there  was  at  least  some  manhood 
left  in  a  mounted  French  soldier. 

I  am  disgusted  ;  all  my  boyhood’s  fancies  of  the 
soldiers  of  the  great  Napoleon  have  been  dissi¬ 
pated  ;  or  else  the  soldiers  of  the  “  Little  Corporal” 
have  lost  their  elan  in  the  pampered  parade  soldiers 
of  the  “  Man  of  Destiny.” 

The  Prussians  will  settle,  I  think,  by  making 
the  line  of  the  Moselle  the  German  line,  taking  in 
Metz  and  Strasburg,  and  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

I  have  been  most  kindly  received  by  the  King 
and  Count  Bismarck  and  all  the  officers  at  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  the  Prussian  army ;  have  seen  much  of 
great  interest,  and  especially  have  been  able  to  ob¬ 
serve  the  difference  between  European  battles  and 
those  of  our  own  country.  I  have  not  found  the 
difference  very  great,  but  that  difference  is  to  the 
credit  of  our  own  country.  There  is  nothing  to  be 
learned  here  professionally,  and  it  is  a  satisfaction  to 
learn  that  such  is  the  case.  There  is  much,  how¬ 
ever,  which  Europeans  could  learn  from  us — the  use 
of  rifle-pits — the  use  of  cavalry,  which  they  do  not 
use  well ;  for  instance,  there  is  a  line  of  communi¬ 
cation  from  here  to  Germany  exposed  to  the  whole 
of  the  south  of  France,  with  scarcely  a  soldier  on 
the  whole  line,  and  it  has  never  been  touched. 
There  are  a  hundred  things  in  which  they  are  be¬ 
hind  us.  The  staff  departments  are  poorly  organ¬ 
ized;  the  quartermaster’s  department  very  wretched, 
etc.  Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

P.  H.  Sheridan,  Lieutenant-General. 

P.  S. — We  go  to-morrow  with  the  headquarters 
of  the  King  to  a  point  about  twenty  miles  from 
Paris.  P.  H.  S. 


42  LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 

( 

Another  step  in  his  career  remained,  and  this  he 
took  in  receiving  the  command  of  the  army  when 
Gen.  Sherman  was  retired  nnder  the  law,  as  having 
reached  the  age  of  64.  This  retirement  occurred 
Feb.  8,  1884,  but  Gen.  Sheridan  removed  to  Wash¬ 
ington  and  assumed  his  duties  the  autumn  previous, 
as  Gen.  Sherman  desired  to  anticipate  the  actual 
date.  This  command  Lieut-Gen.  Sheridan  con¬ 
tinued  to  exercise  actively  until  the  occurrence  of 
the  illness  which  resulted  in  his  death  at  Nonquitt, 
Mass.,  Aug.  5,  1888.  During  his  last  illness  the 
Senate  passed  a  bill  to  make  him  a  full  General, 
and  the  House  concurred  June  1,  the  President 
signing  the  bill  the  same  day  and  sending  in  his 
nomination  to  the  Senate. 

Such  is  the  career  of  a  genuine  soldier,  who  rose 
to  the  highest  grade  in  the  army.  Long  after  vet¬ 
erans  of  our  day  who  tell  of  the  prowess  of  u  Little 
Phil  ’  ’  have  passed  away,  his  fame  will  live  in  his¬ 
tory,  and  grow  the  brighter,  too,'  since  the  dramatic 
elements  coupled  with  his  most  illustrious  achieve¬ 
ments  are  such  as  men  in  all  ages  remember  and 
admire. 


THE  LA.ST  SCENES  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  THE 

HEROIC  SOLDIER. 

The  change  in  the  General’s  condition  occurred 
suddenly.  He  was  lying  partially  on  one  side,  and 
the  nurse,  one  of  the  Sisters  who  had  been  in  con¬ 
stant  attendance,  did  not  notice  anything  untoward. 
It  had  been  the  practice  of  the  physicians  to  fre^ 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


43 


quently  apply  the  fingers  to  the  pulse,  and  Dr. 
O’Reilly  usually  did  so.  To  his  horror  on  this  oc¬ 
casion  he  discovered  great  weakness  and  frequent 
intermissions.  He  summoned  his  assistant,  and  the 
first  step  taken  was  to  administer  ammonia.  This 
powerful  stimulant  was  powerless  to  produce  a 
change  in  the  heart’s  action.  Digitalis  was  then  in¬ 
jected  hypodermically.  Still  the  life  current  cours¬ 
ing  through  the  artery  at  the  wrist  remained  weak. 
Then  it  grew  weaker  and  weaker.  ’  Sinapism  was 
applied  to  the  chest  and  limbs,  and  finally  the  gal¬ 
vanic  battery  was  brought  out,  and  a  current  stead¬ 
ily  increasing  in  strength  was  directed  along  the 
spine  and  through  the  chest  of  the  now  nearly  un¬ 
conscious  form  of  the  pride  and  joy  of  the  army. 

There  were  no  convulsions,  no  sighing  respira¬ 
tion,  no  rolling  of  the  eyes,  none  indeed  of  the  phy¬ 
sical  signs  which  attend  the  departure  of  the  breath 
from  the  human  body  in  many  cases  of  death. 
Until  within  a  few  minutes  of  the  end  Mrs.  Sheri¬ 
dan  was  not  greatly  alarmed,  and  she  expected  a 
reaction  from  the  syncope.  Quietly,  like  a  child 
going  to  slumber,  the  gallant  soldier  fell  into  the 
last  long  sleep.  The  great  heart  ceased  to  beat,  and 
General  Phil  Sheridan  was  dead. 

The  scene  at  the  bedside  was  impressive,  but  was 
free  from  any  striking  incidents.  During  the  first 
part  of  the  attack  General  Sheridan  did  not  realize 
his  condition.  It  would  appear  as  if  he  became 
aware  of  the  impending  doom  before  his  wife  appre¬ 
ciated  the  danger.  He  spoke  of  his  children  once 
in  faint  tones,  and  his  manner  impressed  Mrs.  Sher¬ 
idan  for  the  first  time  with  the  fact  that  her  hus- 


44 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


band  was  dying.  Several  family  matters  were  re¬ 
ferred  to,  and  he  spoke  the  name  of  his  son.  “  Little 
Phil !  ”  the  dying  hero  whispered,  “  Little  Phil !  ” 

Drs.  O’  Reilly  and  Mathews  formally  requested  a 
post-mortem  examination,  being  desirous  of  ascer¬ 
taining  the  exact  pathological  conditions, ;  but  Mrs. 
Sheridan,  after  deliberation,  declined  to  accede  to 
the  request,  as  there  was  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to 
the  cause  of  death,  and  she  did  not  wish  the  body 
of  her  husband  mutilated. 

One  of  the  physicians  stated  that  the  valves  of 
the  aorta  and  of  the  pulmonary  artery  were  degen¬ 
erated,  and  that  there  were  atheromatous  changes 
of  the  valves  of  the  endocardial  lining  of  the  heart. 
The  impaired  circulation  of  the  blood  resul  ting  from 
these  lesions  led  to  the  pulmonary  engorgement  and 
the  cough  of  the  past.  The  heart  slowly  but  defi¬ 
nitely  ceased  to  act.  There  had  been  no  indications 
of  liver,  kidney,  or  other  disease.  There  was  no 
dropsical  swelling  of  the  legs,  and  the  mind  had 
only  suffered  from  sympathy  with  the  bodily  weak¬ 
ness.  There  had  been  extreme  muscular  prostra¬ 
tion,  and  this  condition  had  changed  for  the  better 
slowly.  The  diet  had  been  restricted  because  of  the 
tendency  of  the  stomach  to  reject  much  food. 
General  Sheridan’s  appetite  had  not  been  strong, 
and  he  had  had  food  much  as  he  desired,  except  on 
certain  exceptional  occasions  when  his  wishes  had 
to  be  restrained. 

General  Sheridan  always  expressed  an  aversion  to 
display  in  a  funeral.  Of  course  he  did  not  object  to 
a  military  demonstration,  but  nothing  resembling  a 
pageant  accorded  with  his  tastes. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


45 


AT  THE  FUNERAL. 

The  funeral  day  of  Sheridan,  August  11,  was 
warm,  clear,  cloudless.  St.  Matthew’s  is  a  little, 
irregular,  somewhat  old-fashioned  church  in  the 
official  part  of  Washington.  A  sultry  haze  seemed 
to  enfold  it.  Long  before  the  doors  opened  a  cour¬ 
teous,  patient  company  surrounded  them.  The 
little  church,  oblong,  almost  square,  wTas  decked 
with  the  military  and  mourning  emblems. 

Crape  fluttered  from  sacred  images.  Masses  of 
flowers  in  various  forms  were  piled  up  under  the 
Virgin’s  altar — the  shoulder-strap  of  a  general  in 
blue  and  yellow  flowers,  an  easel  with  vines,  a  white 
cross  from  the  President,  palms,  clustered  bunches 
of  pond-lilies,  and  a  wreath.  Before  the  high  altar 
was  a  raised  platform,  draped  in  black,  fringed 
with  white.  On  this  rested  a  coffin,  which  seemed 
very  small,  covered  with  black  cloth,  the  handles 
gilded,  draped  by  an  American  flag,  almost  cover¬ 
ing  it — folded  and  carelessly  trailing  over  the  sides. 
There  was  a  silken  sash,  emblem  of  the  General’s 
command.  At  the  head  was  a  draped  headquarters 
flag,  such  as  was  carried  in  war.  Around  it  were 
tall  candles  and  candelabra  in  which  small  candles 
were  burning.  On  this  coffin  lay  a  sword — the  glo¬ 
rious  sword  of  Sheridan. 

Famous  people,  statesmen,  soldiers,  sailors,  illus¬ 
trious  men  with  names  of  world-wide  celebrity, 
Were  escorted  to  the  pews  by  the  martial  ushers. 

A  voluntary,  which  came  from  the  organ  like  a 
wail,  and  all  eyes  turned  toward  a  small  company, 


46 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


slowly  led  up  the  central  isle.  Colonel  Michael 
Sheridan,  with  the  widow  of  the  General  leaning  on 
his  arm ;  John  Sheridan,  another  brother,  with  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  deceased,  portly,  spec¬ 
tacled  :  General  Rucker,  and  two  or  three  members 
of  the  family,  all  in  deep  mourning.  In  front  of 
the  coffin  were  three  velveted  chairs  and  pries-dieu. 
In  the  center,  Mrs.  Sheridan,  with  a  brother  on  each 
side,  knelt  in  prayer. 

Priests,  acolytes,  groups  of  boys,  with  purple  and 
scarlet  trimmings  above  their  white  gowns,  clus¬ 
tered  around  the  altar.  The  church  began  its 
sacred  offices  of  repose  and  intercession.  The  tall 
candles  around  the  bier  were  lighted,  and  burned 
freely  in  the  gentle  breeze  which  escaped  from  the 
sultry,  drowsy  sun.  The  chancel  swarmed  with 
clergymen  in  various  stages  of  authority,  and  all 
knelt  as,  following  an  uplifted  cross,  the  spare  form 
of  the  Cardinal,  robed  in  scarlet,  wearing  the 
beretta,  slowly  moved  from  the  sacristy,  knelt  at 
the  altar,  and  was  escorted  to  the  episcopal 
throne. 

As  His  Eminence  bent  in  prayer  there  was  a 
rustle  of  interest,  as  another  group  moved  up  the 
aisle  under  military  escort— the  President,  Mrs. 
Cleveland,  and  Mrs.  Folsom.  And  in  presence  of 
an  audience  representing  the  statesmanship,  the 
valor,  the  history,  learning  and  prosperity  of  the 
nation,  the  Church  began  its  solemn  and  beautiful 
service  for  the  dead. 

The  mass  was  beautifully  sung.  It  was  Schmidt’s 
mass,  one  of  the  simplest  in  musical  composition. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


47 


cardinal  gibbons’s  sermon. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  Cardinal  Gibbons’s 
sermon : 

“And  Jonathan  and  Simon  took  Judas  their 
brother,  and  buried  him  in  the  sepulcher  of  their 
fathers,  in  the  city  of  Modin.  And  all  the  people 
of  Israel  bewailed  him  with  great  lamentation  ;  and 
they  mourned  for  him  many  days,  and  said  :  How 
is  the  mighty  fallen  that  saved  the  people  of  Is¬ 
rael?  ” — I.  Mach,  ix.,  19-21. 

Well  might  the  children  of  Israel  bewail  their 
great  captain,  who  led  them  so  often  to  battle  and 
to  victory.  And  well  may  this  nation  grieve  for  the 
loss  of  the  mighty  chieftain  whose  mortal  remains 
now  lie  before  us.  In  every  city  and  town  and  vil¬ 
lage  of  this  country,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Paci¬ 
fic,  his  name  is  uttered  with  sorrow  and  his  great 
deeds  recorded  with  admiration. 

There  is  one  consoling  feature  that  distinguishes 
the  obsequies  of  our  illustrious  hero  from  those  of 
the  great  Hebrew  leader.  He  was  buried  in  the 
midst  of  war,  amid  the  clashing  of  arms  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  the  armed  hosts  of  the  enemy.  Our 
captain,  thank  God,  is  buried  amid  profound  peace, 
while  we  are  enjoying  the  blessings  of  domestic 
tranquillity  and  are  in  friendshix3  with  all  the 
world. 

The  death  of  General  Sheridan  will  be  lamented 
not  only  by  the  Hortli,  but  also  by  the  South.  I 
know  the  Southern  people  ;  I  know  their  chivalry, 
I  know  their  magnanimity,  their  warm  and  affec- 


48 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


tionate  nature  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  the  sons  of  the 
South,  and  especially  those  who  fought  in  the  late 
war,  will  join  in  the  national  lamentation  and  will 
lay  a  garland  of  mourning  on  the  bier  of  the  great 
general.  They  recognize  the  fact  that  the  nation’s 
general  is  dead,  and  that  his  death  is  the  nation's 
loss. 

And  this  universal  sympathy,  coming  from  all 
sections  of  the  country,  irrespective  of  party  lines, 
is  easily  accounted  for  when  we  consider  that  under 
an  overruling  Providence  the  war  in  which  General 
Sheridan  took  such  a  conspicuous  part  has  resulted 
in  increased  blessings  to  every  State  of  our  common 
country. 

‘  ‘  There’s  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will.” 

And  this  is  true  of  nations  as  well  as  of  individs 
uals. 

What  constitutes  the  great  difference  between 
the  wars  of  antiquity  and  our  recent  war  \  The  war 
of  the  olden  time  was  followed  by  subjugation  and 
bondage  ;  in  the  train  of  our  great  struggle  came 
reconciliation  and  freedom.  Alexander  the  Great 
waded  through  the  blood  of  his  fellow-man.  By  the 
sword  he  conquered,  and  by  the  sword  he  kept  the 
vanquished  in  bondage.  Scarcely  was  he  cold  in 
death  when  his  vassals  shook  off  the  yoke  and  his 
empire  was  dismembered  into  fragments. 

The  effect  of  the  late  war  has  been  to  weld  to¬ 
gether  the  nation  still  more  closely  into  one  cohe¬ 
sive  body.  It  has  removed  once  for  all  slavery,  the 
great  apple  of  discord  ;  it  has  broken  down  the  wall 
of  separation  which  divided  section  from  section, 


A  BIVOUAC  FEAST 


7  *:  "  w  ■  *  -Tv  :  "  ■  -  ■, ;  •  >■  » ■ 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


49 


and  exhibits  ns  more  strikingly  as  one  nation,  one 
family,  with  the  same  aims  and  the  same  aspira¬ 
tions.  The  humanity  exhibited  in  onr  late  struggle 
contrasted  with  the  cruelties  exercised  toward  the 
vanquished  of  former  times  is  an  eloquent  tribute 
to  the  blessings  of  Christian  civilization. 

In  surveying  the  life  of  Gfeneral  Sheridan  it  seems 
to  me  that  these  were  his  prominent  features  and 
the  salient  points  in  his  character :  Undaunted 
heroism,  combined  with  gentleness  of  disposition ; 
strong  as  a  lion  in  war,  gentle  as  a  child  in  peace  ; 
bold,  daring,  fearless,  undaunted,  unhesitating,  his 
courage  rising  with  the  danger  ;  ever  fertile  in  re¬ 
sources,  ever  prompt  in  execution,  his  rapid  move¬ 
ments  never  impelled  by  blind  impulse,  but  ever 
prompted  by  a  calculating  mind. 

I  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  ability  to  dwell 
upon  his  military  career  from  the  time  he  left  West 
Point  till  the  close  of  the  war.  Let  me  select  one 
incident  which  reveals  to  us  his  quickness  of  con¬ 
ception  and  readiness  of  execution.  I  refer  to  his 
famous  ride  in  the  valley  of  Virginia.  As  he  is 
advancing  along  the  road  he  sees  his  routed  army 
rushing  pell-mell  toward  him.  Quick  as  thought — 
by  the  glance  of  his  eye,  by  the  power  of  his  word, 
by  the  strength  of  his  will — he  hurls  back  that  liv¬ 
ing  stream  on  the  enemy  and  snatches  victory  from 
the  jaws  of  defeat.  How  bold  in  war,  how  gentle 
in  peace  ! 

On  some  few  occasions  in  Washington  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  General  Sheridan  socially  in 
private  circles.  I  was  forcibly  struck  by  his  gentle 
disposition,  his  amiable  manner,  his  unassuming 


50 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


deportment,  his  eye  beaming  with  good-natnre,  and 
his  voice  scarcely  raised  above  a  whisper.  I  said  to 
myself,  “  Is  this  bashful  man  and  retiring  citizen 
the  great  general  of  the  American  army  \  Is  this 
the  hero  of  so  many  battles 

It  is  true  General  Sheridan  has  been  charged  with 
being  sometimes  unnecessarily  severe  toward  the 
enemy.  My  conversations  with  him  strongly  im¬ 
pressed  me  with  the  groundlessness  of  a  charge 
which  could  in  no  wise  be  reconciled  with  the  ab¬ 
horrence  which  he  expressed  for  the  atrocities  of 
war,  with  his  natural  aversion  to  bloodshed,  and 
with  the  hope  he  uttered  that  he  would  never  again 
be  obliged  to  draw  his  sword  against  an  enemy.  I 
am  persuaded  that  the  sentiments  of  humanity  ever 
found  a  congenial  home,  a  secure  lodgment  in  the 
breast  of  General  Sheridan.  Those  who  are  best 
acquainted  with  his  military  career  unite  in  saying 
that  he  never  needlessly  sacrificed  human  life,  and 
that  he  loved  and  cared  for  his  soldiers  as  a  father 
loves  and  cares  for  his  children. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  if  the  departed  hero 
was  a  soldier  he  was  too  a  citizen,  and  if  we  wish  to 
know  how  a  man  stands  as  a  citizen  we  must  ask 
ourselves  how  he  stands  as  a  son,  a  husband,  and 
a  father.  The  parent  is  the  source  of  the  family,  the 
family  is  the  source  of  the  nation.  Social  life  is  the 
reflex  of  the  family  life.  The  stream  does  not  rise 
above  its  source.  Those  who  were  admitted  into  the 
inner  circle  of  General  Sheridan’ s  home  need  not  be 
told  that  it  was  a  peaceful  and  happy  one.  He  was 
a  fond  husband  and  an  affectionate  father,  lovingly 
devoted  to  his  wife  and  children.  I  hope  I  am  not 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


51 


trespassing  upon  tlie  sacred  privacy  of  domestic  life 
when  I  state  that  the  General’s  sickness  was  accel¬ 
erated,  if  not  aggravated,  by  a  fatiguing  journey 
which  he  made  in  order  to  be  home  in  time  to  assist 
at  a  domestic  celebration  in  which  one  of  his  chil¬ 
dren  was  the  central  figure. 

Above  all,  General  Sheridan  was  a  Christian.  He 
died  fortified  by  the  consolations  of  religion,  hav¬ 
ing  his  trust  in  the  saving  mercies  of  our  Redeemer 
and  a  humble  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

What  is  life  without  the  hope  of  immortality? 
What  is  life  that  is  bounded  by  the  horizon  of  the 
tomb  ?  Sure,  it  is  not  worth  living.  What  is  the 
life  even  of  the  antediluvian  patriarchs  but  like  the 
mist  which  is  dispelled  by  the  morning  sun  ?  What 
would  it  profit  this  illustrious  hero  to  go  down  to 
his  honored  grave  covered  with  earthly  glory  if  he 
had  no  hope  in  the  eternal  glory  to  come  ?  It  is  the 
hope  of  eternal  life  that  constitutes  at  once  our 
dignity  and  our  moral  responsibility. 

God  has  planted  in  the  human  breast  an  irresisti¬ 
ble  desire  for  immortality.  It  is  born  with  us  and 
lives  and  moves  with  us.  It  inspires  our  best  and 
holiest  actions.  Now,  God  would  not  have  given 
us  this  desire  if  He  did  not  intend  that  it  should  be 
fully  satisfied.  He  would  not  have  given  us  this 
thirst  for  infinite  happiness  if  He  had  not  intended 
to  assuage  it.  He  never  created  anything  in  vain. 

Thanks  to  God,  this  universal  yearning  of  the 
human  heart  is  sanctioned  and  vindicated  by  the 
voice  of  revelation. 

The  inspired  Word  of  God  not  only  proclaims  the 


52 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


immortality  of  the  soul  but  also  the  future  resur¬ 
rection  of  the  body.  “  I  know,”  says  the  prophet 
Job,  “that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  on  the 
last  day  I  shall  rise  out  of  the  earth  and  in  my  flesh 
I  shall  see  my  God.”  “  Wonder  not  at  this,”  says 
our  Saviour,  “for  the  hour  cometh  when  all  that 
are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  and  they  who  have  done  well  shall  come 
forth  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have 
done  ill  to  the  resurrection  of  judgment.”  And  the 
Apostle  writes  in  these  comforting  words  to  the 
Thessalonians :  “I  would  not  have  you  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  those  that  are  asleep,  that  ye 
be  not  sorrowful  like  those  who  have  no  hope  ;  for 
if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even 
so  those  who  have  died  in  Jesus,  God  will  raise  unto 
himself.  Therefore  comfort  yourself  with  these 
words.” 

These  are  the  words  of  comfort  I  would  address 
to  you,  madam,  faithful  consort  of  the  illustrious 
dead.  This  is  the  olive-branch  of  peace  and  hope  I 
would  bring  you  to-day.  This  is  the  silver  lining  of 
the  cloud  which  hangs  over  you.  We  followed  you 
in  spirit  and  with  sympathizing  hearts  as  you  knelt 
in  prayer  at  the  bed  of  your  dying  husband.  May 
the  God  of  all  consolation  comfort  you  in  this  hour 
of  sorrow.  May  the  soul  of  your  husband  be 
this  day  in  peace  and  his  abode  in  Zion  ;  may  his 
memory  be  ever  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen,  and  may  our  beloved  country,  which 
he  has  loved  and  served  so  well,  ever  be  among  the 
foremost  nations  of  the  earth,  the  favored  land  of 
constitutional  freedom,  strong  in  the  loyalty  of  its 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SIIEEXDAN. 


53 


patriotic  citizens  and  in  the  genius  and  valor  of  its 
soldiers  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 

Comrades  and  companions  of  the  illustrious  dead, 
take  hence  your  great  leader,  bear  him  to  his  last 
resting-place,  carry  him  gently,  lovingly ;  and 
though  you  may  not  hope  to  attain  his  exalted  rank 
you  will  strive  at  least  to  emulate  him  by  the  in¬ 
tegrity  of  your  private  life,  by  your  devotion  to 
your  country,  and  by  upholding  the  honor  of  your 
military  profession. 

The  sermon  ended,  the  Cardinal,  assuming  the 
elaborate  robes  of  his  office,  coped  and  mitred,  the 
cross  borne  before  him  and  priests  holding  his 
train,  took  his  place  at  the  foot  of  the  coffin  and 
read  the  prayers  of  the  Church  in  Latin  and  then  in 
English. 

And  while  the  sweet,  entreating  voice  of  the  Car¬ 
dinal  voiced  these  tender  offices  of  the  dead,  and 
from  the  trained  company  of  priests  and  musicians 
came  the  answering  entreat}^  that  God  would  be 
with  the  dead  and  have  mercy  for  evermore,  through 
the  windows  came  a  quick,  instant  sound  of  com¬ 
mand,  the  bugle  note,  the  tramp  of  armed  men 
moving  into  column,  the  crash  of  the  muskets  as 
they  came  heavily  to  the  ground.  It  was  a  strange 
unison — peace  and  war,  repose  and  action.  The 
Church  and  the  State  seemed  to  blend  and  to  com¬ 
bine  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  dead. 

The  offices  of  the  Church  and  the  weird,  mournful 
chants  rose  and  fell  as  the  martial  notes  of  prepar¬ 
ation  fell  strangely,  but  not  harshly,  on  the  ear. 
For  it  was  fitting  that  the  bugle  notes  should  be 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


heard  in  such  a  ceremony.  The  last  word  before 
the  altar  had  been  spoken,  and  at  a  signal  a  body 
of  grizzled,  brown  soldiers  and  officers  marched 
np  the  aisle  with  firm  military  stride  to  the  coffin. 
The .  pall  bearers  formed  in  line,  Sherman  and 
Carlisle  leading. 

The  grave  of  Sheridan  is  on  a  slope  almost  imme¬ 
diately  in  front  of  the  Arlington  mansion,  not  a 
hundred  paces  from  the  door.  Here  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  where  you  have  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
views  imaginable,  even  in  picturesque  Virginia, 
Sheridan  finds  rest.  It  seems  fitting  that  the  spirit 
of  Sheridan  should  stand  forever,  as  it  were,  keep¬ 
ing  watch  and  ward  over  the  Capitol  he  defended 
and  saved. 

The  artillery  were  massed  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
the  guns  ready  to  fire.  The  infantry  drew  up  in 
line,  extending  down  the  slope.  The  grave  had 
been  covered  with  rude  scantling,  which  was  torn 
away  as  the  procession  advanced. 

Tenderly  the  coffin  was  laid  in  its  place.  The 
flag  was  lovingly  removed.  The  glorious  sword  of 
the  dead  hero,  which  seemed  rusted  and  worn  with 
service,  was  reverently  taken  from  the  coffin  by  an 
aid.  Then  the  company  were  pressed  back  while 
the  batteries  saluted  and  the  infantry  fired  three 
volleys.  A  bugler,  one  who  had  served  under  Sher¬ 
idan,  came  to  the  grave  and  played  the  old  bugle 
notes  of  “taps.”  It  was  the  good-night  he  had 
heard  as  a  boy  at  the  military  school,  as  an  officer 
during  his  whole  army  life — meaning  that  the  day 
was  ended  and  that  the  work  was  done.  As  at  the 
grave  of  Grant,  so  at  the  grave  of  Sheridan,  was  the 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


55 


same  felicitous  thought — that  the  ceremony  should 
end  with  the  old  bugle  notes. 

In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Mrs.  Sheridan 
the  funeral  was  a  strictly  military  affair,  and  the 
escort  was  formed  precisely  as  prescribed  by  the 
army  regulations  for  an  officer  of  the  rank  of  the 
deceased. 


HIS  LIFE  AT  WASHINGTON. 

Gen.  Shekidan  was  not  married  until  nine  years 
after  the  war,  but  then  began  a  domestic  life  whose 
uninterrupted  happiness  beautifully  rounded  his 
career.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  life  when  he  met 
Miss  Irene  Rucker,  the  daughter  of  Gen.  Rucker, 
who  became  his  wife.  Gen.  Sheridan  first  met  her 
at  a  marriage  in  army  circles,  at  which  she  was  a 
bridesmaids,  and  at  once  succumbed  to  her  charms. 
Only  those  who  have  been  intimate  in  that  domes¬ 
tic  circle  can  tell  of  its  harmony.  The  young  wife, 
almost  twenty  years  her  famous  husband’s  junior, 
had  all  the  pride  in  his  career  that  the  daughter  of 
an  army  officer,  reared  to  appreciate  the  triumphs 
of  war,  alone  could  know. 

She  came  from  a  family  of  soldiers,  and  her 
father,  grandfather  and  two  brothers  were  all  offi¬ 
cers  of  high  rank  in  the  service.  Her  father,  Major- 
Gen.  Daniel  Henry  Rucker,  a  native  of  Belleville, 
N.  J.,  entered  the  army  from  Michigan  as  lieutenant 
of  dragoons  in  1837,  and  served  distinction  on  the 
frontiers,  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  at  Fort  Leaven¬ 
worth,  and  in  Texas  and  Mexico.  From  1853  to 


56 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


1855  he  was  stationed  at  Fort  Union  as  depot  quar¬ 
termaster,  and  it  was  at  this  military  post  that  Mrs. 
Sheridan  was  born. 

The  first  three  years  of  Mrs.  Sheridan’s  infant 
life  were  passed  at  that  frontier  fort  amid  the 
alarms  of  Indian  wars  and  the  discomforts  of  garri¬ 
son  life.  The  following  year  was  passed  at  Detroit, 
where  her  father  was  stationed.  From  that  point 
he  was  transferred  to  Washington.  There  Mrs. 
Sheridan  passed  several  years  of  her  early  child¬ 
hood. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  her  father  having 
been  assigned  to  duty  in  the  field,  and  being  sur¬ 
rounded  by  the  turmoils  of  military  concentra¬ 
tion  and  movements  at  the  capital,  she  was  placed 
with  her  younger  sister  Sara,  who  was  born  at  Al¬ 
buquerque,  another  frontier  post  in  New  Mexico,  at 
the  Georgetown  (now  West  Washington)  Academy 
of  the  Visitation,  and  remained  there  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  Her  father  having  been  ordered  to 
Philadelphia  for  duty,  Miss  Pucker  and  her  sister 
were  placed  at  the  School  of  the  Convent  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  Holy  Child  at  that  city. 

Gen.,  Sheridan  was  always  a  much-sought  com¬ 
panion  for  a  festal  gathering.  His  robust  health, 
his  happy  home  relations,  his  proud  military 
achievements,  have  all  combined  to  round  out  to 
perfection  the  genial  character  of  the  ideal  com¬ 
mander. 

When  he  went  to  Washington  after  the  retire¬ 
ment  of  Gen.  Sherman,  his  friends  in  Chicago  were 
desirous  of  giving  him  a  testimonial  of  their  friend¬ 
ship,  and  subscribed  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to 


I 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


57 


purchase  a  comfortable  and  attractive  home.  The 
house  selected  is  situated  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  Rhode  Island  Avenue  and  Seventeenth  Street. 

The  office  of  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army 
died  with  him,  as  did  the  office  of  General  of  the 
Army  disappear  with  the  retirement  of  Gen.  Sher¬ 
man. 

In  one  corner  of  the  large  parlor  stands  a  mahog¬ 
any  cabinet  tilled  with  curios  and  relics  repre¬ 
senting  some  of  the  leading  facts  of  the  General’s 
life.  The  meerschaum  pipe  that  he  had  smoked 
throughout  the  war  lies  here.  It  is  well  colored 
and  its  steady  use  is  shown  by  the  burning  off  of 
the  edge  of  the  bowl.  Here  are  beautiful  canes, 
curiously  carved,  the  gift  of  many  a  friend  ;  there 
are  swords  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  wrought 
with  gold  and  with  silver  ,  there  are  canteens,  rare 
coins,  beautiful  medals  and  all  sorts  of  souvenirs  of 
the  General’s  adventurous  life.  Everything  has 
some  historical  or  personal  reminiscence  connected 
with  it,  and  the  whole  atmosphere  speaks  of  a  well- 
deserved  comfort.  There  are  stuffed  birds  and 
animals,  a  magnificent  Mexican  saddle,  with  bridle 
and  lariat  to  match,  with  a  sombrero  hung  beside 
it.  This  was  the  gift  of  a  friend  in  Mexico,  and  its 
trappings  are  such  that  it  took  years  to  make  it. 

The  deep  love  of  Gen.  Sheridan  for  the  animal 
creation  is  evidenced  by  the  presence  in  many  of 
the  rooms  of  stuffed  animals,  which  look  down 
from  the  walls  in  greeting  to  the  visitor.  In  the 
dining-room  there  are  among  the  china  some  rare 
pieces.  A  pitcher  of  white  and  gold  has  an  excel¬ 
lent  picture  of  Gen.  Grant  burned  in  one  side  and 


58 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SIIERIDAN. 


that  of  Gen.  Sheridan  on  the  other.  A  solid  silver 
dish-tray  was  given  Gen.  Sheridan  by  friends  in 
Chicago.  A  splendid  oil  portrait  of  the  General  in 
the  parlor  represents  him  in  f  ull  uniform  upon  the 
field  of  battle. 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 

GREAT  SOLDIER, 


AS  RELATED  BY  THOSE  WHO  KNEW  HIM  AND  FOUGHT 

WITH  HIM. 


COL.  burr’s  REMINISCENCES. 

“  Keep  the  enemy  always  in  sight,”  was  Grant’s 
order  to  Sheridan,  as  he  started  him  for  the  Shen¬ 
andoah  Valley  in  that  doubtful  battle  summer  of 
1864.  Well  did  the  great  cavalryman  follow  his 
chief ’s  instructions.  Sheridan's  wonderful  powers 
were  first  made  manifest  to  the  nation  in  the  cam¬ 
paign  which  followed  his  transfer  from  the  “On  to 
Richmond”  line  to  the  valley  of  Virginia.  Three 
years  of  desperate  warfare  had  been  waged,  and  he 
had  attained  the  rank  of  Major-General  without  the 
country  appreciating  his  capacity  as  a  commander. 
It  is  true  he  had  done  some  brilliant  things.  Start¬ 
ing  even  as  late  as  1862,  as  a  commissary  on  Gen. 
Halleck’s  staff,  he  was  made  a  Brigadier- General 
in  one  month  after  he  was  given  an  opportunity  to 
show  his  quality.  It  has  been  written  that  ‘  ‘  all  the 
great  opportunities  of  life  come  to  us  through  an  ac- 


LIFE  OF  GEIST.  SHEklDAtf. 


59 


eident.”  Sheridan’s  career  would  seem  to  prove 
the  truth  cu  this  saying.  He  was  appointed  Colonel 
of  the  Second  Michigan  Cavalry  without  his  knowl¬ 
edge.  Coming  from  Ohio,  he  had  naturally  expected 
a  regiment  of  volunteers  from  his  own  State,  but 
the  authorities  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  appeals,  and 
it  remained  for  Michigan  to  start  the  great  General 
on  his  remarkable  career.  Only  the  day  after  his 
appointment  he  took  command  of  the  organization 
of  which  I  had  the  honor  to  be  a  member.  None  of 
the  veterans  of  the  old  Second  Michigan  will  ever 
forget  his  first  appearance  on  dress  parade.  He 
was  anything  but  the  typical  hero  ;  small  in  stature, 
with  short  legs  and  broad  shoulders,  he  appeared  a 
singular  figure  to  the  thousand  men  who  faced  him 
on  that  May  day  in  1862  when  he  for  the  first  time 
gave  an  order  to  the  regiment. 

Gordon  Granger  had  been  our  Colonel,  and  in 
some  respects  he  was  an  ideal  soldier,  but  the  new 
commander  was  so  small  in  stature  that  the  boys  at 
once  began  discussing  his  powers  with  a  sort  of  du¬ 
bious  shake  of  the  head.  Two  days  later  he  moved 
with  his  regiment  in  Col.  Elliott’s  brigade  for  a 
raid  upon  Booneville.  This  was  the  first  successful 
raid  of  the  war  on  the  Union  side,  and  accomplished 
a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  tearing  up  the  Mobile 
&  Ohio  Railroad  and  destroying  war  supplies  at 
this  vantage-point  on  that  line  of  railway.  During 
this  episode  every  officer  and  man  of  the  Second 
Michigan  Cavalry  was  taught  a  wholesome  respect 
for  the  fighting  quality  of  the  new  Colonel,  whom 
they  named  “  Little  Phil.” 

The  occupation  of  Corinth  compelled  the  Union 


60 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


forces  to  extreme  vigilance,  as  the  enemy  was  in 
force  and  still  held  the  railroad  arteries,  of  which 
the  Mobile  &r  Ohio  road  was  the  most  important. 
Gen.  Gordon  Granger,  who  had  made  the  Second 
Michigan  Cavalry  as  its  first  Colonel  the  efficient 
organization  that  Sheridan  found  it  to  be,  was  in 
command  of  Halleck’s  cavalry  division.  It  con¬ 
sisted  of  two  brigades,  of  which  the  second  was 
formed  of  the  Second  Iowa,  Col.  Elliott,  and  the 
Second  Michigan,  Col.  Sheridan.  On  the  28th  of 
May,  1862,  this  brigade,  by  a  circuitous  route,  was 
sent  to  strike  the  railroad  at  some  point  thirty  or 
forty  miles  below  Corinth.  After  a  sharp  skirmish 
at  Booneville,  the  Confederate  cavalry  was  driven 
out  and  the  place  captured.  A  large  quantity  of 
small  arms,  artillery,  ammunition,  a  large  number 
of  cars,  locomotives,  etc.,  besides  nearly  3000  sick, 
wounded  and  convalescent  soldiers  were  taken. 
The  depot  was  burned,  the  road  cut  and  destroyed 
in  several  places,  and  the  brigade  returned  unmo¬ 
lested  to  Farmington.  A  sharp  fight  occurred  on 
the  4th  of  June,  near  Booneville,  in  which  Sheridan 
participated  with  his  command.  Again  on  the  6th 
he  encountered  a  regiment  of  Confederate  cavalry 
and  drove  it  back  with  loss  into  a  large  body  of 
infantry.  Again  at  other  dates  up  to  the  last  of 
June  Sheridan  was  actively  engaged.  • 

All  this  was  but  the  prelude  to  his  first  action, 
but  it  serves  to  show  the  quality  of  the  man.  He 
was  soon  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Second 
Brigade,  and  on  the  28th  of  June  established  his 
headquarters  at  Booneville. 

On  the  1st  of  July  a  Confederate  cavalry  force, 


LIFE  OF  GE1ST.  SHEKIDAN. 


61 


under  command  of  General  Chalmers,  advanced 
from  the  South  upon  the  post.  The  attack  began 
early  in  the  morning  upon  a  picket  of  the  Second 
Michigan,  under  Lieut.  Scranton.  They  fell  back 
slowly  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  a  second  road, 
where  a  second  company,  under  Capt.  Campbell, 
was  stationed.  The  fight  began  in  earnest,  a  nat¬ 
ural  barricade  was  found,  and,  under  cover,  the 
advancing  enemy  was  brought  to  a  halt.  The  con¬ 
test  became  stubborn  and  the  fighting  superb,  but 
finding  the  Confederates  gaining  ground,  three 
more  companies  were  sent  to  the  point,  under  com¬ 
mand  of  Capt.  Campbell,  also  of  the  Second 
Michigan. 

Confident  now,  Chalmers  deployed  two  regi¬ 
ments  on  the  right  of  the  road,  thus  overlapping 
the  Union  front  so  far  that  by  merely  curving  the 
wings  inward  the  whole  force  would  have  been  sur¬ 
rounded.  Sheridan  quickly  sent  word  to  Capt. 
Campbell  to  hold  the  ground  at  all  hazards  until 
reinforced,  but,  if  pushed  beyond  endurance  to  fall 
back  slowly.  Col.  Hatch,  of  the  Second  Iowa,  was 
then  sent  to  support  him,  with  orders  to  charge 
wherever  he  could  best  strike  the  enemy.  In  the 
open  field,  meanwhile,  the  gray-coated  horsemen, 
in  well-closed  ranks,  waited  until  the  skirmishers 
had  driven  the  Michigan  troops  well  together ; 
then,  with  shouts,  they  swept  down,  each  man 
eager  to  be  first  in  the  capture.  Ordered  to  reserve 
their  fire  until  the  enemy  was  within  twenty-five  or 
thirty  yards’  range,  the  Union  men  obeyed.  On 
came  the  solid  Confederate  battalions.  A  storm  of 
bullets  withered  the  first  line  and  was  the  reply  to 


62 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


an  order  for  surrender.  Others  followed,  for  the 
smallness  of  the  force  was,  to  some  extent,  made  up 
by  their  possession  of  Colt’s  revolving  rifles,  which 
carried  five  shots  without  reloading.  These  men 
were  good  marksmen  also.  So  well  were  the  rifles 
used  that  the  charge  was  stayed.  Again  the  Con¬ 
federates  closed  up  their  lines  and  swept  back  on 
the  flank  of  the  struggling  W olverines.  Still  fight¬ 
ing  inch  by  inch,  the  later  fell  slowly  back,  keeping 
at  bay  the  overwhelming  enemy.  Again  Chalmers 
charged  in  line  with  loud  yells  as  of  assured  vic¬ 
tory.  The  Union  men,  having  no  time  to  reload, 
used  their  guns  as  clubs  to  ward  off  their  over¬ 
confident  enemies.  It  was  a  desperate  moment. 
But  again  Sheridan  sent  in  another  timely  supply 
of  men  from  his  slender  line.  The  combat  had 
lasted  from  daylight,  and  it  was  now  afternoon, 
Chalmers  made  a  wide  sweep  and  came  in  on  the 
left  of  the  Union  camp,  almost  within  gun-shot  of 
the  tents.  There  was  no  sign  of  the  reinforcements 
by  rail  for  which  Sheridan  had  asked.  Still  he  had 
no  thought  of  giving  up.  But  the  young  soldier’s 
resources  were  wofully  slender  for  either  valor 
or  strategy.  Meagre  as  they  were  they  sufficed 
him.  While  2000  Confederates  were  besetting  the 
400  men  on  the  Blackland  road,  and  2000  more  were 
swinging  into  line  at  the  very  gates  of  the  camp  on 
the  east,  Sheridan  hurried  to  the  tent  of  Capt. 
Alger,  who  was  lying  sick  with  camp-fever.  He  was 
asked  to  take  charge  of  a  desperate  venture,  and 
readily  agreed  to  do  his  share  in  the  crisis. 

Sheridan  had  parked  his  wagon  train  on  the  low 
ground  to  the  west  and  north  of  the  town,  and  pre- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


63 


pared  for  a  last  desperate  stand.  Besides  this,  he 
had  hurried  two  companies  in  line,  one  from  the 
Second  Michigan  and  one  from  the  Second  Iowa. 
There  were  ninety-two  men  in  all  in  this  little  band, 
which  he  intrusted  to  Capt.  Alger.  To  better  in¬ 
spire  them  with  the  spirit  of  rivalry,  he  had  taken 
one  company  from  each  regiment  in  his  command 
instead  of  taking  both  companies  from  the  same 
regiment.  When  Alger  was  mounted,  Sheridan  di¬ 
rected  him  to  move  off  to  the  right  and  strike  the 
enemy  in  the  rear.  He  spoke  privately  of  the  des¬ 
perate  risks  to  be  taken,  and  indicated  the  exact 
moment  at  which  he  should  strike  the  foe.  Alger 
was  to  leave  Booneville  by  a  wood  road  running 
westward,  moving  until  he  reached  a  point  in  a  cov¬ 
ered  lane  where  an  old  negro  would  be  found  to 
guide  him  to  the  point  of  attack.  Sheridan’s  in¬ 
structions  were  so  minute,  and  he  showed  such  per¬ 
fect  familiarity  with  the  country,  that  he  inspired 
confidence  in  the  officer  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
this  dangerous  errand. 

This  early  incident  aptly  illustrated  his  power  as 
a  soldier  and  commander.  Short  as  had  been  Sheri¬ 
dan’  s  stay  in  Booneville,  he  knew  more  of  the  coun¬ 
try  than  the  rebels  themselves.  He  always  made  it 
his  first  duty  to  memorize  every  foot  of  the  territory 
that  he  might  be  called  upon  to  defend  or  contest. 
Hapoloen  and  all  great  or  capable  commanders  have 
had  this  faculty.  Sheridan  had  not  been  twenty- 
four  hours  at  Booneville  before  he  had  mapped  in 
his  mind  every  road,  lane,  farm,  hill,  or  natural 
impediment  that  might  play  an  important  part  in 
action.  It  was  to  a  visit  to  the  neighborhood  of 


64 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


Waterloo,  long  before  he  confronted  Napoleon,  that 
Wellington  owed  his  escape  from  the  French  after 
his  defeat  at  Qnatre  Bras.  Given  equal  numbers 
in  combat,  the  man  who  knows  the  topography  best 
is  almost  certain  to  win  the  battle.  Sheridan  knew 
his  map  by  heart.  He  knew  the  character  of  the 
people  and  the  nature  of  all  surroundings.  The  at¬ 
tack  he  was  now  called  upon  to  resist  found  him 
equipped  with  everything  except  men  that  the  craft 
and  energy  of  a  leader  could  command.  He  had 
also  a  trusty  scout  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood — 
a  light  complexioned,  long-haired  Mississippian, 
with  a  keen  eye  and  cadaverous  form.  Reticent 
and  modest,  this  partisan  had  the  confidence  of 
both  oificers  and  men.  To  him  was  intrusted  the 
conduct  of  the  u  forlorn  hope  ”  to  the  negro’s  ren¬ 
dezvous.  Nothing  was  left  to  chance.  Capt.  Alger 
knew  that  the  salvation  of  the  whole  command  de¬ 
pended  upon  his  courage,  activity  and  vigor.  Per¬ 
haps  it  was  just  as  well  that  the  men  did  not  appre- 
ciaee  the  madness  of  their  undertaking.  It  takes 
more  than  ordinary  courage  for  ninety-two  men  to 
assault  4000,  especially  when,  as  in  this  case,  every 
chance  was  against  them.  They  were  to  traverse 
an  unknown  country  by  divers  roads,  through  deep 
woods,  and  were  to  meet,  at  the  end  of  the  march 
an  overwhelming  enemy,  in  the  midst  of  a  treach¬ 
erous  population.  As  the  men  moved  oil  Sheridan 
said  to  Capt.  Alger : 

“  Don’ t  dismount  your  men  in  any  event !  Don’t 
deploy  them,  or  you  will  show  the  enemy  the  weak¬ 
ness  of  your  force.  Charge  in  column,  and,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  come  through  and  join  me.  When  you  make 


CONFEDERATE  GUN  AT  MOUNT  JACKSON. 


•  "  •  .  ;r: ;  - }  ■'$ 


/ 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


65 


the  assault,  shout  and  make  all  the  noise  possible  ! 
When  I  hear  you  I  will  strike  them  in  front.  I 
have  carefully  gauged  the  time,  and  whether  I 
hear  from  you  or  not,  in  one  hour  I  shall  charge 
them.” 

In  all  these  directions  the  quality  of  the  man  as 
a  commander  is  clearly  seen.  They  outline  his 
ready  brain  as  a  silhouette  does  the  lines  of  face  and 
head.  Every  instruction  was  obeyed,  and  the  for¬ 
lorn  hope  reached  the  rear  of  the  enemy.  “  For¬ 
ward,  men  !  ’ 5  Capt.  Alger  commands. 

It  was  an  audacious  move.  In  a  scant  column  of 
fours  the  daring  troopers  trotted  on  up  the  Black- 
land  road  to  a  point  where  no  attack  was  expected. 
Chalmers’s  headquarters  were  reached  and  captured. 
Capt.  Schuyler,  of  the  Second  Iowa,  was  left  to  look 
after  those  captured  there  and  to  watch  the  left  of 
the  road.  Alger  dashed  on.  Sheridan  was  watch¬ 
ing,  strained  and  anxious.  The  onset  was  not  heard. 
It  was  too  far  for  the  voices  of  such  a  handful  to 
span  with  sound. 

When  the  hand  pointed  to  the  last  moment  of  the 
hour,  Sheridan  prepared  for  the  charge.  Just  as 
he  moved  out  a  train  came  down  the  road  and  drew 
into  Booneville,  sounding  its  shrill  whistle  as  a  warn¬ 
ing  and  a  welcome  to  those  who  were  in  the  battle. 
Every  one  in  the  Union  lines  knew  that  Sheridan 
had  sent  for  reinforcements,  and  the  arrival  of  the 
train  filled  the  struggling  soldiers  with  a  new  hope. 
They  began  to  cheer,  and  the  train-men  joined  with 
a  will.  Sheridan  made  prompt  use  of  the  timely 
incident.  He  sent  word  to  the  engineer  to  keep  up 
whistling,  and  to  the  train  hands  to  cheer  and  make 


66 


LIFE  OF  G EH.  SHEEIDAFT. 


such  clatter  as  would  imply  fresh  men.  The  civil¬ 
ians  took  the  hint.  There  was  a  pandemonium  of 
yells  and  huzzas.  At  this  moment  Sheridan  swung 
his  tired  battalions  into  line.  The  men  caught  the 
inspiration  of  their  commander  and  felt  with  him 
the  responsibilities  of  the  moment.  Half  a  mile  in 
front  of  them  were  the  gray  masses,  moving  in  and 
out  in  busy  preparation  for  the  final  onset. 

The  scene  on  both  sides  was  a  spirited  one,  but 
there  was  no  time  for  reflection.  Sheridan  is  in 
front.  He  shouts  to  his  troops,  “  Forward  !  ”  The 
squadrons  sweep  across  the  fields  in  close  order. 
As  they  draw  near,  dropping  shots  from  the  Con¬ 
federate  artillery  and  carbines  empty  a  saddle  here 
and  there.  Still  on  they  go.  ~No  one  has  thought 
for  anything  but  the  enemy.  The  excitement  of 
the  charge  thrills  every  nerve.  The  lust  of  battle 
shines  in  every  eye.  They  draw  closer  and  closer 
to  the  foe.  Each  bluecoat  singles  out  his  man,  and 
with  a  crash  as  of  meeting  waters,  and  a  yell  as  of 
contending  demons,  the  two  forces  come  together. 
The  Confederate  line  wavers  and  then  breaks  before 
the  force  of  that  charge.  At  this  moment  Alger’s 
handful,  like  a  missile  loosed  from  a  catapult,  was 
flung  upon  the  enemy.  This  unexpected  attack 
threw  them  into  great  confusion.  The  uproar  of 
Sheridan’s  charge  drowned  the  shouts  of  Alger’s 
men.  Their  danger  became  great.  The  “  forlorn 
hope”  had  achieved  its  task,  but  now  itself  was  in 
a  desperate  scramble  with  flying  Confederates.  Be- 
youd  the  reach  of  aid  from  Sheridan,  it  was  in  a 
running  fight  with  the  enemy,  who,  as  they  broke 
to  the  rear,  tried  to  punish  the  Alger  force  for  its 


LIEE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


67 


temerity.  In  the  melee  each  side  sought  to  do  all 
the  damage  it  could  to  the  other,  while  getting  out 
of  danger  itself.  Our  little  command  were  rushing 
to  the  rear  with  as  much  speed  as  their  enemy. 
They  had  emptied  their  revolvers  into  a  confused 
inass  of  Confederates,  which  they  had  driven  off  by 
the  roadside.  Ammunition  was  gone,  and  they 
plied  the  sabre  unsparingly. 

The  Confederates  were  in  point  of  numbers  vastly 
superior.  But  they  pushed  off  the  field  fighting  as 
they  ran.  Alger  himself  rode  side  by  side  with  a 
Confederate,  each  emptying  his  revolver  without 
doing  any  injury.  As  Alger  had  finished  his  last 
shot  he  was  carried,  partly  by  the  antics  of  his 
horse  and  partly  by  the  rush  of  those  about  him, 
beyond  his  own  men  and  into  the  timber,  where  the 
enemy  were  also  seeking  shelter.  His  unmanage¬ 
able  horse  ran  until  a  limb  tore  the  luckless  rider 
from  his  saddle,  breaking  his  ribs  as  he  swung 
violently  against  the  tree.  He  had  barely  strength 
to  parry  a  vicious  blow  from  a  flying  cavalryman  as 
he  fell  into  the  thick  underbrush,  unconscious. 
How  long  he  lay  he  never  knew.  When  he  recovered 
consciousness  all  was  quiet  about  him.  The  Con¬ 
federates  had  disappeared  and  so  had  his  command. 
He  dragged  himself  from  his  shelter,  crawled  to  the 
road,  and  had  entered  an  open  field  when  the  clatter 
of  horses’  hoofs  reached  his  ears.  He  thought  it 
might  be  the  enemy  and  concealed  himself.  But 
they  were  from  the  Second  Iowa.  Sherman  had 
sent  them  out  to  seek  him,  though  it  was  thought 
that  he  had  been  killed.  They  put  him  on  a  horse 
and  returned  to  camp.  It  was  after  dark  when 


t38 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


Sheridan  greeted  him  with  4  4  Old  fellow,  you  have 
done  well.”  Capt.  Alger  lost  more  than  half  of 
his  command,  and  the  Confederates  were  many 
more  men  short  from  the  effects  of  Sheridan’s  first 
charge.  For  this  day’ s  work  Sheridan  was  made  a 
brigadier,  and  Alger  gained  a  majority.  The  com¬ 
mander  had  never  received  his  commission  nor  been 
mustered  in  as  Colonel.  Gov.  Blair  had  4  4  ap¬ 
pointed”  him,  and  accidentally  delayed  the  for¬ 
warding  of  his  commission  on  his  own  return  to 
Lansing,  Mich. 

The  campaign  won  for  Sheridan  full  recognition 
and  the  respect  also  of  the  enemy.  Gen.  Kose- 
crans,  in  a  general  order,  said  : 

4  4  The  coolness,  determination,  and  fearless  gal¬ 
lantry  displayed  by  Col.  Sheridan  and  the  officers 
and  men  of  his  command  deserve  the  thanks  and 
admiration  of  the  army.” 

Sheridan  had  728  men ;  Chalmers,  4700 ;  the 
fighting  lasted  eight  hours ;  our  losses  numbered 
41  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  and  the  enemy, 
carrying  off  its  wounded,  left  65  dead  on  the  field. 
Gen.  Halleck  from  Corinth  asked  for  Sheridan’s 
promotion. 

The  fight  in  itself  was  comparatively  a  small 
affair  ;  in  its  conduct  and  results  it  was  of  mag¬ 
nifying  importance.  It  created  a  commander,  it 
gave  him  his  first  chance,  it  taught  the  men  in  com¬ 
mand  and  the  country  at  large  that  a  new  force  had 
arrived.  It  showed  every  quality  of  command. 
Skilful  handling  of  troops,  nerve  and  audacity  to 
the  outmost,  that  superb  mental  map-making  which 
a  successful  soldier  must  possess,  which  Grant  with 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


69 


Sherman  and  Thomas  had,  McClellan  missed  in  part, 
and  Halleck  never  possessed  ;  and  it  also  gave  evi¬ 
dence  on  a  small  scale  of  that  same  strategetical 
power  which  Five  Forks  exhibited  on  such  a  larger 
one. 

The  battle  of  Booneville  made  him  a  Brigadier- 
General,  but  no  great  opportunity  arose  for  him  to 
show  his  mettle.  After  his  promotion  he  was 
assigned  to  an  infantry  command,  and  his  appear¬ 
ance  again  in  battle  was  on  October  8,  1862,  at 
Perry ville,  Ky.  Jackson,  whom  he  had  fought 
with  as  a  cadet  at  West  Point  and  been  suspended 
for  a  time,  had  been  killed.  Bosseau  was  in  trouble 
when  Sheridan  moved  his  division  up,  struck  the 
enemy  hard  and  saved  the  day.  He  then  moved 
with  the  army  to  Hash  ville  and  became  a  signifi¬ 
cant  division  commander  in  the  reorganized  Army 
of  the  Cumberland  under  Bosecrans.  Stone  Biver 
was  his  next  battle,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  Dec. 
31.  Here  his  work  was  so  well  done  that  he  received 
the  warm  commendations  of  his  superiors.  The 
Tullahoma  campaign,  from  July  to  September,  1863, 
then  followed,  to  end  at  Chickamauga.  Here 
Sheridan  had  his  second  wrestle  with  Cheatham  and 
won  the  applause  of  the  defeated  army  for  his 
brilliant  share  in  the  engagement  where  he  reformed 
his  division  after  the  rout  and  returned  to  the  field. 
Missionary  Bidge  in  1864,  and  the  two  days  of 
picturesque  battles  which  £>receded  it,  found  Sheri¬ 
dan,  with  Grant,  Sherman,  Thomas  and  Hooker,  a 
central  figure  of  that  wonderful  series  of  battles 
which  ended  in  the  defeat  of  Bragg’s  army. 

Grant’s  fame  was  now  at  its  full  tide.  He  was 


70 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


called  East  and  made  Lieutenant-General.  He 
wanted  a  cavalryman.  His  mind  instinctively 
sought  out  Sheridan,  the  greatest  trooper  in  the 
world’s  history.  When  he  crossed  the  Rapidan,  in 
April,  1864,  as  commander  of  all  of  the  cavalry  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  had  his  first  real  op¬ 
portunity  to  show  how  well  he  knew  the  arts  and 
chances  of  war.  He  covered  the  flank’s  advance 
and  communications  through  all  the  terrible  days 
of  May,  June  and  July.  His  bold  swing  to  the  rear 
of  the  Confederate  army  after  the  Wilderness  and 
march  for  Richmond  was  a  great  movement  both 
in  conception  and  accomplishment.  He  reached 
within  seven  miles  of  Richmond  without  a  serious 
battle,  save  Yellow  Tavern,  where  J.  E.  B.  Stuart, 
the  great  Southern  rough-rider,  was  killed  by  the 
Fifth  Michigan  cavalry.  Early ’  s  advance  on  Wash¬ 
ington,  August,  1864,  sent  Sheridan  to  the  Shen¬ 
andoah  Yalley.  At  first  he  only  commanded  the 
cavalry,  but  finally  he  was  given  all  the  forces,  and 
in  1864,  for  the  first  time  in  his  career,  he  became 
commander  of  an  army  and  a  central  and  pictur¬ 
esque  figure  of  war.  His  wonderful  fight  with  Early 
at  Winchester,  whereby  personal  daring  he  snatched 
victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat,  is  easily  recalled. 
Then  followed  Cedar  Creek  and  Fisher’s  Hill,  and  a 
broken  and  shattered  Confederate  army  attested  the 
force  of  his  blows  and  the  fulness  of  his  prowess  as 
a  commander  of  men  on  the  field.  A  grateful 
nation  passed  its  resolution  of  thanks,  and  he  stood 
out  in  the  front  rank  among  the  great  soldiers  of 
the  world.  The  early  days  of  spring  found  him 
back  with  Grant.  The  great  valley  he  had  left  a 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


71 


barren  plain,  without  a  hostile  force  of  importance 
in  it.  After  Meade  crashed  through  Lee’s  lines  at 
Petersburg,  Sheridan  become  the  remorseless  demon 
of  pursuit  to  the  retreating  Confederates. 

The  battle  of  Five  Forks  was  perhaps  the  most 
ingeniously  conceived  and  most  skilfully  executed 
engagement  that  was  ever  fought  on  this  continent. 
It  matched  in  secretiveness  and  shrewdness  the 
cleverest  efforts  of  Napoleon,  and  showed  also  much 
of  that  soldier’ s  broadness  of  intellect  and  capacity 
for  great  occasions. 

It  was  the  one  opportunity  that  was  necessary  to 
give  Sheridan  full  scope  for  his  genius  as  a  com¬ 
mander  of  men  in  the  field.  Well  did  he  make  use 
of  it,  and  his  matchless  tactics  and  splendid  bear¬ 
ing  at  Five  Forks  made  clear  his  title  to  the  Lieu¬ 
tenant-Generalship  which  came  only  a  few  years 
since.  The  world  has  given  its  estimate  of  this  bat¬ 
tle  and  the  pursuit  of  Lee,  but  Grant  speaks  of  it 
in  detail  thus  : 

“  It  took  the  humble  Ohio  lad  more  than  four 
years,  in  the  white  heat  of  war,  to  make  these  facts 
clear  to  his  countrymen  and  the  authorities  in  con¬ 
trol  of  the  Government  and  its  armies.  He  was  not 
a  typical  hero  in  appearance.  His  size  was  against 
him.  Restless,  full  of  the  combative  quality,  not 
politic  in  language,  somewhat  reticent,  half  stub¬ 
born  and  fond  of  hazardous  enterprises,  he  was  the 
embodiment  of  heroism,  dash  and  impulse.  Then 
he  had  the  power  of  inspiring  all  about  him,  and 
imparting  to  others  the  very  confidence  he  felt  him¬ 
self.  Yet  he  seemingly  commanded  only  those 
qualities  which  show  the  wide  difference  between 


72 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


the  habitual  impulses  of  the  brilliant  corps  com¬ 
mander  and  the  cool  thinking  of  a  chief  in  the  art, 
as  well  as  in  the  onset,  of  war.” 

At  the  very  outset  of  his  career,  just  after  he  was 
appointed  colonel  of  cavalry,  and  while  on  the 
way  with  his  regiment  to  join  Gen.  Gordon  Granger, 
he  met  the  future  commander  of  the  armies.  But 
the  impression  he  created  on  that  occasion  was  not 
a  favorable  one.  In  fact,  Grant  tells  us  that  it  was 
bad,  and  relates  the  incident  in  these  words : 

“  Sheridan’s  pursuit  of  Lee  was  perfect  in  its 
generalship  and  energy.”  Gen.  Grant  paid  this 
fitting  tribute  to  the  soldier  whose  brilliant  career 
is  here  recorded.  “  As  a  soldier,  as  a  commander 
of  troops,  as  a  man  capable  of  doing  all  that  is  pos¬ 
sible  with  any  number  of  men,  there  is  no  man  living 
greater  than  Sheridan.  He  belongs  to  the  very 
first  rank  of  soldiers,  not  only  of  our  country,  but 
of  the  world.  I  rank  Sheridan  with  Napoleon  and 
Frederick  and  the  great  commanders  in  history. 
No  man  ever  had  such  a  faculty  of  finding  out 
things  as  Sheridan,  or  of  knowing  all  about  the  en¬ 
emy.  Then  he  had  that  magnetic  quality  of  sway¬ 
ing  men  which  I  wish  I  had — a  rare  quality  in  a 
general.  I  don’t  think  any  one  can  give  Sheridan 
too  high  praise. 

“We  met  at  a  railway  station.  I  had  never  seen 
Sheridan  but  once  before.  He  was  then  commissary 
at  Halleck’s  headquarters  during  the  march  towards 
Corinth.  Although  he  belonged  to  the  Fourth  In¬ 
fantry,  my  old  regiment,  I  had  no  acquaintance 
with  him,  for  he  graduated  ten  years  after  I  had 
left  West  Point.  I  knew  I  had  sent  a  regiment  of 


THE  CONFEDERATE  SPY  IN  CAAIP. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


73 


cavalry  to  join  Granger,  but  I  had  not  indicated  the 
Second  Michigan,  of  which  Sheridan  had  recently 
been  made  the  Colonel.  I  really  did  not  wish  that 
regiment  to  leave.  As  we  met  for  the  second  time 
in  our  lives,  I  spoke  to  him  about  his  going.  He 
said  he  would  rather  go  than  stay,  or  some  similar 
brusque  and  rough  remark  that  annoyed  me.  I 
don’t  think  he  could  have  said  anything  that  would 
have  made  a  worse  impression  upon  me.  But  I 
subsequently  watched  his  career  and  saw  how  much 
there  was  in  him.  When  I  came  East  and  took 
command  I  looked  around  for  a  cavalry  commander. 
While  standing  in  front  of  the  White  House  talk¬ 
ing  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Gen.  Halleck,  I  said  I 
wanted  the  best  man  I  could  find  for  a  cavalry  com¬ 
mander.  1  Then,’  said  Halleck,  ‘  why  not  take  Phil 
Sheridan  \  4  Well,’  I  said,  4 1  was  going  to  say 

Phil  Sheridan.’  So  Sheridan  was  sent  for  and  he 
came,  but  very  much  disgusted.  He  was  just  about 
to  have  a  corps,  and  he  did  not  know  why  we 
wanted  him  East,  whether  it  was  to  discipline  him 
or  not.” 

The  country  had  not  yet  become  interested  in 
Sheridan,  as  Grant  had.  He  was  still  practically 
unknown  outside  the  immediate  army  in  which  he 
served  when  called  from  the  West.  His  great  fight 
with  Cheatham  at  Stone  River,  his  second  struggle 
with  the  same  general  at  Chickamauga,  and  his 
good  deeds  at  Missionary  Ridge  had,  it  is  true,  at¬ 
tracted  the  attention  of  military  men.  But  he  was 
only  at  the  threshold  of  his  fame  when  Grant  sent 
him  across  the  Rapidan  as  his  chief  of  cavalry  in 
1864.  The  troopers  had  now  become  a  positive 


74 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


power  in  army  operations,  yet  their  new  leader  was 
only  considered  a  “rough  rider”  by  the  country — 
capable  of  great  things  with  a  small  force  and  rapid 
movement.  The  series  of  brilliant  cavalry  opera¬ 
tions  which  led  to  his  transfer  to  the  Shenandoah 
was  all  lost  to  the  public  ear  in  the  din  of  the 
greater  army  movements  that  were  going  on  around 
him.  He  was  sent  to  the  Yalley  of  Virginia  by  an 
accident,  as  a  cavalryman,  not  as  a  great  com¬ 
mander,  but  his  deeds  soon  carried  him  to  supreme 
command,  and  he  fought  several  great  battles.  Yet 
he  did  not  reach  the  summit  of  his  fame  until  the 
final  act  which  destroyed  Lee’ s  army.  In  the  clos¬ 
ing  hours  of  the  Rebellion  Sheridan  became  the 
vivid  omen  of  defeat  to  the  broken  soldier  in  gray. 
Grant  called  him  from  the  Shenandoah,  and  when 
he  reached  him  on  the  last  days  of  February,  1865, 
with  his  10,000  troopers,  the  lines  were  closing 
around  the  fated  Confederacy.  Sheridan  became 
to  Grant  what  Murat  was  to  Yapoleon.  After 
Meade’s  forces  crashed  through  Lee’s  lines  at 
Petersburg  and  the  Southern  commander  moved 
south  to  join  Johnston,  Sheridan’s  great  work  began. 

The  falling  army  against  which  his  firm  and  fate¬ 
ful  operations  were  now  directed  was  simply  a 
vitalized  desperation.  It  was  at  the  mercy  of  time. 
It  had  hopes,  but  they  were  only  a  pathetic  dis¬ 
belief  in  the  inevitable.  The  swift  stroke  of  the 
Federal  cavalry  was  everywhere.  It  flashed  upon 
the  Confederate  flanks,  laughed  past  its  front,  and 
then  it  picked  up  the  stragglers.  It  was  the  mate¬ 
rialized  sneer  of  Fate  at  the  hopelessness  of  further 
opposition. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


75 


The  lines  were  closing,  and  there  were  gaps 
through  which  the  hoof-beats  of  the  horses  were 
heard  and  the  sabres  of  the  troopers  fell.  Every 
time  they  advanced  farther  and  more  recklessly, 
until  the  doomed  army  knew  that  the  great  cordon 
which  was  to  crush  it  was  closing  more  and  more 
tightly  around  it.  The  daring  of  the  Confederates 
was  simply  an  attempt  to  postpone  the  inevitable  ; 
but  it  was  a  striking  illustration  of  their  discipline 
and  the  confidence  reposed  in  their  commander. 
The  cavalry  had  whirled  through  the  Shenandoah 
— a  cyclone  of  war — and  had  left  a  ruined  country 
and  a  scattered  and  dispirited  remnant  of  an  army. 
It  had  throttled  the  last  hope  at  Five  Forks.  Sheri¬ 
dan,  the  dashing  cavalry  officer,  the  masterly  leader 
of  men  in  battle,  here  proved  himself  a  perfect 
tactician  on  the  field  and  in  the  face  of  a  ^ghting 
army.  The  whole  of  his  movements  won  m  an 
applauding  world  the  recognition  of  his  powers  as  a 
great  commanding  general.  From  that  point  it 
was  little  more  than  a  series  of  running  skir¬ 
mishes,  some  of  them  desperate,  all  of  them  evi¬ 
dences  of  American  grit ;  for,  though  sore,  weary, 
and  starving,  the  remnants  of  Lee’s  once  great 
army  would  sometimes  turn  and  sting  with  terrible 
power  their  relentless  pursuers.  But  Union  troop¬ 
ers  harassed  them  at  every  turn.  The  infantry 
drove  their  already  dejected  forces  into  disorder. 
The  great  cordon  closed  around  them  like  an  im¬ 
mense  barn-door,  and  the  main  army  swung  on  the 
veterans  of  Lee.  Like  a  host  of  beating  flails  win¬ 
dowing  the  grain,  every  avenue  was.  closed  by  the 
Federal  troopers.  They  had  overrun  all  the  roads 


76 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


of  supplies  and  left  them  barren.  Wherever  the 
Confederacy  looked  expectantly  for  some  new  path 
of  escape  or  succor,  Sheridan  was  there  like  a 
whirlwind  of  death  and  defeat.  Across  fields,  down 
highways,  through  by-paths  and  on  every  road,  in 
the  storm  and  terror  of  Five  Forks,  on  the  road 
below  Appomattox,  this  great  cavalryman  and 
wonderful  soldier  was  leading  the  advance  or  strik¬ 
ing  the  flank  of  the  enemy  with  an  energy  born  of 
the  mighty  power  of  a  great  brain  well  schooled  in 
the  best  element  of  the  art  and  vigor  of  war. 

Finally,  on  a  beautiful  April  morning  in  1869,  as 
the  sun  rose  over  the  hills  and  vales  of  a  region  that 
had#  never  yet  felt  the  cruel  footfall  of  war,  Sheri¬ 
dan’ s  cavalry  swung  into  line  for  the  last  charge. 
The  sound  of  those  horses’  hoofs  on  the  road  be¬ 
yond  Gordon’s  advance  was  the  final  menace  to  the 
expiring  Confederacy. 

The  night  of  the  8th  of  April  closed  upon  a  day 
of  hard  work  and  exciting  events.  By  a  forced  and 
rapid  march  Sheridan  had  thrust  his  cavalry  in  front 
of  the  retreating  Confederate  army.  The  night  be¬ 
fore  the  surrender  Custer  had  enveloped  A  ppomattox 
station,  capturing  three  heavily  laden  railway  trains 
of  supplies,  twenty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  two  hun¬ 
dred  wagons,  and  many  prisoners.  After  this  stroke 
the  cavalrymen  stood  to  horse  all  night.  The  gray 
of  the  morning  was  just  yielding  to  the  stronger 
light  of  full  day  when  they  were  ordered  to  move 
forward.  As  they  emerged  from  the  woods  and 
advanced  upon  the  plains  beyond  they  could  see 
the  army  of  Lee  cut  off  from  further  retreat.  It 
was  a  sight  at  once  grand  and  thrilling  when  the 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  77 

horsemen  moved  forward  to  the  final  attack.  Gor¬ 
don  made  a  final  attempt  to  destroy  the  line  of  cav¬ 
alry  which  appeared  with  sabres  glistening  in  the 
spring  sun,  the  trophies  of  war  mingling  with  bat¬ 
tle-flags  of  the  Union  commander.  Behind  Sheri¬ 
dan’s  cavalry  long  lines  of  infantry  under  Ord, 
Griffin,  and  Gibbon  were  waiting  to  gather  the 
sheaves  of  war  which  Sheridan’s  troopers  had 
secured.  The  last  fight  was  a  short  one,  and  the 
white  flag  of  truce  from  Gordon’s  headquarters  an¬ 
nounced  the  final  surrender.  Sheridan  rode  into  the 
Confederate  lines  to  receive  the  praises  of  his  chief 
and  the  applause  of  his  country  for  his  brilliant 
work.  It  was  a  fitting  end  to  the  closing  hours  of 
the  great  struggle,  that  his  fame  as  a  soldier  should 
be  completed  only  with  the  final  breaking  up,  which 
his  generalship  and  energy  had  done  so  much  to 
hasten.  t 

Gen.  Sheridan’s  part  in  the  surrender  of  Lee  was 
very  significant.  He  was  not  in  good  humor  on 
that  April  morning  and  was  disposed  to  doubt  the 
sincerity  of  the  Confederate  commanders.  He 
fumed  and  fretted  when  his  charge  was  stayed  by 
the  flag  of  truce. 

gov.  Gordon’s  reminiscences. 

Gen.  Gordon,  now  Governor  of  Georgia,  tells  this 
story  of  Sheridan  at  Appomattox : 

A  cavalry  officer  came  to  me  from  Sheridan  with 
a  flag  of  truce.  He  was  a  handsome  fellow  and 
v?ry  polite.  Saluting,  he  said  : 

“  ‘  Is  this  Gen.  Gordon  ?  I  am  the  bearer  of  Gen. 


78 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


Sheridan’s  compliments,  and  he  demands  your  un¬ 
conditional  surrender.’ 

“‘Well,  Colonel’  (or  whatever  I  saw  his  rank 
was),  I  answered,  ‘  you  will  please  return  my  com¬ 
pliments  to  Gen.  Sheridan  and  say  that  I  shall  not 
surrender.’ 

“‘Then,’  he  said,  ‘you  will  be  annihilated  in 
half  an  hour.  We  have  you  completely  sur¬ 
rounded.’ 

“  ‘Very  well,  sir,’  I  replied,  ‘I  am  probably  as 
well  aware  of  my  situation  as  you  are,  but  that  is 
my  answer.’ 

“  ‘  You  don’t  mean  that !  ’  he  exclaimed. 

“  ‘Yes,  I  do,  sir,’  I  said,  ‘the  only  thing  I  pro¬ 
pose  to  say  is  what  I  have  already  said  through  my 
staff  officer — that  a  flag  of  truce  is  in  existence  be¬ 
tween  Gen.  Lee  and  Gen.  Grant.  I  was  not  going 
to  surrender,  because  I  knew  it  was  coming.  I 
was  not  going  to  let  Sheridan  capture  me  in  that 
way.” 

“  ‘Then  you  will  be  annihilated,’  he  said,  and 
rode  away. 

“While  I  had  been  sitting  there,  waiting,  the 
firing  had  almost  ceased.  The  infantry  on  my 
flanks  had  not  changed  their  position  much,  as 
they  had  been  moving  up  very  slowly.  I  was  firing 
artillery  at  the  time,  so  as  to  check  them.  In  a  few 
minutes  Sheridan  himself  came  up  with  his  staff. 
He  was  riding  an  immense  black  horse.  I  will 
never*  forget  how  he  looked  with  his  short  legs 
sticking  out  on  either  side.  We  had  very  much 
the  same  sort  of  parley  as  had  occurred  between 
the  other  officer  and  myself.  Indeed  the  language 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


79 


was  almost  a  literal  repetition.  Finally  I  said  to 
him :  4  General,  I  hardly  think  that  it  is  worth 

while  for  ns  to  jiarley.  I  have  made  np  my  mind 
not  to  surrender,  and  I  shall  accept  any  conse¬ 
quences  that  may  follow  this  determination.  I 
wish  simply  to  give  you  the  information  which  was 
sent  me  by  Gen.  Lee.  All  I  know  is  that  there  is  a 
flag  of  truce  in  existence,  and  I  only  know  the  bare 
fact.’ 

44  4  Did  you  say  that  you  have  a  letter  from  Gen. 
Lee  ?  ’  he  asked. 

44 1  handed  him  the  letter, 

4  4  He  looked  it  over  and  said  :  4 1  suppose,  then, 
that  the  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to  cease  firing.’ 

4  4  4  1  think  so,’  I  replied. 

44 He  then  said  to  me:  4 If  you  will  withdraw 
your  forces  to  a  certain  place,  I  will  withdraw  mine, 
and  wint  to  see  what  happens.’ 

44  We  got  down  off  our  horses,  and  taking  a  seat 
on  the  grass  talked  there  for  some  time.  In  the 
mean  time  I  had  forgotten  that  early  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  I  had  detached  a  force  to  go  back  and  over  on 
the  brow  of  a  hill  to  prevent  the  cavalry  from  com¬ 
ing  around  between  Longstreet  and  myself.  While 
we  were  sitting  on  the  grass  I  heard  a  roll  of  mus¬ 
ketry,  and  looking  over  to  where  the  force  had  been 
placed  saw  it  firing  into  some  cavalry  that  had  rid¬ 
den  down  in  that  direction. 

4  4  4  Sir,  what  does  this  mean  %  ’  cried  Sheridan. 

4  4  4  1  am  very  sorry  about  it,’  I  replied,  as  I  ex¬ 
plained  the  circumstances,  and  he  and  I  each  sent 
an  officer  over  to  the  hill  to  stop  the  firing. 

“I  saved  Sheridan’s  life  that  morning  beyond 


80 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


question.  One  of  my  sharpshooters  was  a  sour  sort 
of  fellow,  and  his  only  idea  was  that  when  he  saw 
a  blue  coat  it  was  his  duty  to  shoot  at  it.  I  had 
the  sharpshooters  around  me  when  Sheridan  came 
up  with  the  flag  of  truce,  and  I  saw  this  fellow  draw 
his  gun.  ‘  What  do  you  mean  ? 5  I  cried,  ‘  this  is  a 
flag  of  truce.’  He  did  not  pay  the  slightest  atten¬ 
tion  to  me,,  and  was  just  about  firing  when  I  knocked 
up  his  gun  and  it  went  off,  over  Sheridan’s  head. 
‘Let  him  stay  on  his  own  side,  General,’  he  mut¬ 
tered. 

“  Gen.  Sheridan  and  I  sat  on  the  ground,  close  to 
the  brick  house  where  Lee  and  Grant  met,  in  the 
orchard.  I  had  passed  the  house  in  the  morning. 
We  chaffed  each  other  a  little  in  the  course  of  the 
conversation,  Sheridan  saying :  ‘  I  believe  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  before.’  I  replied  that 
we  had  had  some  little  acquaintance  in  the  Valley 
of  Virginia.  He  turned  the  thread  of  the  conversa¬ 
tion  to  some  guns  he  had  received  in  the  valley. 
Sheridan  had  captured  nearly  all  of  Early’s  artil¬ 
lery  and  some  more  had  been  sent  to  him  from 
Richmond.  Some  wag  had  written  with  chalk  on 
one  of  those  guns :  ‘  Respectfully  consigned  to 

Major-Gen.  Sheridan  through  Early.’  Sheridan 
had  heard  of  this,  and  he  was  very  much  amused 
at  it ;  but  whether  he  ever  saw  such  words  upon  a 
gun  I  do  not  know.  When  he  was  through  with 
his  story  I  suggested  that  I  also  had  two  guns 
which  I  could  consign  to  him,  and  with  the  more 
grace  because  they  had  come  from  him  that  very 
morning. 

“  Sheridan  came  with  a  full  staff  and  remained 


\ 


/ 


>  l' 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


81 


with  me  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  My  recollection 
is  that  we  stayed  at  that  place  until  we  received 
information  that  Gen.  Lee  and  Gen.  Grant  had 
agreed.55 


INCIDENTS  IN  HIS  LIFE. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  Gen. 
Sheridan’s  life  is  that  of  his  early  boyhood.  A 
gentleman  who  played  a  very  important  part  in  the 
early  life  of  the  General  relates  the  following 
story.  He  knew  Sheridan  as  a  boy,  and  his  contri¬ 
bution  to  the  soldier’s  life  is  interesting  : 

“  Phil  Sheridan  was  born  at  Somerset,  0.,  and 
he  spent  his  boyhood  there.  His  father  was  a 
teamster,  and  brought  goods  from  Zanesville  and 
Lancaster  to  the  little  merchants  of  Somerset.  I 
can  remember  him  very  well  as  a  toddler,  and  when 
he  got  a  little  older  he  was  employed  by  a  firm 
of  general  merchants  named  Fink  &  Ditto.  Fink 
was  a  great  big,  burly  fellow,  who  did  all  the 
rough  work,  and  Ditto  was  a  little,  sedate  man, 
and  wore  gold  spectacles,  and  they  were  both  old 
line  Whigs.  Phil’s  duty  was  to  open  the  store 
and  sweep  out,  and  he  did  it  well.  He  had  a 
brother,  Patrick,  who  was  a  clerk  in  the  store, 
but  summer  and  winter  little  Phil  was  at  the  store 
bright  and  early.  He  was  liked  universally  and 
always  spoken  of  as  a  most  polite  little  fellow. 
Well,  the  member  of  Congress  from  that  district 
was  old  Tom  Ritchie,  a  man  well  known  as  having 
lots  of  good  sense,  but  little  education.  I  used  to 


82  LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 

write  Ms  letters  for  him,  for  he  was  a  farmer  and 
said  he  did  not  have  time  to  write.  One  day  he 
came  into  my  office  with  about  fifty  letters  in  his 
hand.  He  threw  them  down  on  my  desk  and  said  : 
‘  I  have  opened  only  one  of  these,  but  I  know  what 
they  are  all  about.  These  people  all  want  their  sons 
appointed  to  West  Point,  and  I  am  about  to  make 
one  friend  and  forty-nine  enemies.’  I  looked  at 
him  for  a  moment  and  said  I  would  tell  him  how  he 
could  avoid  making  any  enemies.  When  he  asked 
how,  I  said  :  ‘  Send  Phil  Sheridan  to  West  Point.’ 
The  idea  seemed  to  strike  the  old  man  in  the  right 
spot,  and  he  gave  me  the  blanks  to  fill  out  at  once. 
I  did  it,  and  that  is  how  Phil’s  name  came  up  as  a 
candidate.  I  myself  mailed  the  indorsement,  and 
then  took  a  petition  and  went  around  the  town  to 
get  the  merchants  to  sign  it  in  Phil’s  favor.  The 
first  place  I  went  to  was  Fink  &  Ditto’s.  Ditto  was 
over  his  books  as  usual,  and  when  I  told  him  what 
I  wanted  he  glared  over  his  gold  spectacles  and  said 
it  would  do  no  good,  because  Ritchie  was  a  Demo¬ 
crat.  Some  days  after  this  I  was  sitting  in  my 
office  with  my  back  to  the  door,  when  suddenly  I 
heard  some  one  right  behind  me.  I  had  not  heard 
him  enter,  but  it  was  Phil.  4  Do  you  think  I  will 
get  appointed  ?  ’  The  little  fellow  looked  so  hand¬ 
some  and  so  anxious  that  I  told  him  that  if  he 
would  keep  a  secret  I  would  tell  him  something. 
He  promised,  and  I  told  him  I  had  a  private  advice 
that  he  had  been  appointed.  You  should  have 
seen  that  boy.  He  fairly  jumped  and  howled  with 
delight.  His  was  not  the  only  pleasure,  for  every 
one  in  Somerset  knew  and  liked  the  little  chap,  and 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


83 


the  appointment  pleased  them  all.  He  went  np  for 
examination,  and  went  through  it  as  he  did  every¬ 
thing  else.  I  have  watched  his  career  all  through 
life,  and  there  is  just  one  little  incident  that  shows 
the  man.  Everybody  remembers  when  Early  had 
driven  Banks  out  of  the  valley  and  repulsed  every¬ 
body  who  attempted  to  go  up  there.  Grant  got 
very  tired  of  it,  and  sent  word  to  Lincoln  to  send 
him  some  one  to  cope  with  Early.  In  a  few  days 
he  received  the  following  letter :  ‘  I  send  you  a 

man.  There  is  not  much  of  him,  but  he  is  the  man 

/ 

you  want.’  That  man  was  Phil  Sheridan,  and  the 
way  he  hammered  Early’s  forces  is  a  matter  of  his¬ 
tory.  As  a  boy  he  was  bright,  polite,  generous, 
and  universally  liked,  and  this  is  the  story  of  the 
true  way  he  got  into  his  military  career.” 

TOTALLY  DEVOID  OF  FEAR. 

The  following  little  sample  of  the  daring  courage 
of  Gen.  Sheridan  is  told  by  a  friend  who  knew  him 
well :  “At  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  where  he  was 
the  riglit-hand  man  of  Grant,  he  did  not  stand  par¬ 
leying  about  old  constitutional  fooleries  which  had 
been  overthrown  by  the  side  which  made  the  war  ; 
he  did  the  truly  valorous  moral  work  of  that  war. 
He  went  to  Louisiana,  where  there  were  murderers 
by  hosts.  He  stopped  at  the  principal  hotel.  A 
fellow  jumped  upon  a  table  and  told  his  fellow  lu¬ 
natics  and  blatherskites  that  he  was  going  to  kill 
Sheridan  in  a  few  minutes.  Somebody  went  up  to 
Sheridan’s  room  and  gave  that  information. 
/Well,’’  said  Sheridan,  “let’s  go  down  and  take  a 
look  at  him.”  He  walked  down  into  the  rotunda 


84 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


of  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  where  the  man  was  still 
going  on.  Sheridan,  surrounded  by  these  murder¬ 
ers,  looked  calmly  up  at  the  fellow,  whose  attention 
was  presently  called  to  the  man  he  had  just  de¬ 
scribed  as  among  the  crows  and  kites.  The  fellow 
hopped  down  from  his  place,  ran  his  head  into  the 
crowd,  fell  down  the  back  steps,  and  that  was  the 
end  of  the  matter.  This  fellow  was  wanting  to  run 
for  the  Senate  or  the  Governorship,  or  Congress  or 
something. 

SHERIDAN  AT  CEDAR  CREEK. 

Representative  McKinley,  of  Ohio,  who  was  a 
major  in  the  Union  army,  in  talking  of  Gen.  Sheridan 
recently,  vividly  recalled  the  incidents  when  he  led 
the  great  charge  after  the  disastrous  defeat  at 
Cedar  Creek. 

UI  was  on  Gen.  Crook’s  staff,”  he  said,  “  and 
was  posting  some  artillery  under  orders  I  had  from 
him,  when  Gen.  Sheridan  and  his  staff  came  riding 
along  the  pike.  Sheridan  had  just  came  back  from 
Washington,  where  he  had  received  his  commission 
as  a  major-general,  and  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
disaster  that  had  overtaken  us.  He  asked  me  where 
Gen.  Crook,  was  and  I  conducted  him  to  headquar¬ 
ters.  The  two  generals  retired  a  short  distance 
and  engaged  in  close  conversation.  Then  Sheridan 
decided  that  an  immediate  advance  should  be  made 
and  the  camps  from  which  we  had  been  driven  be 
recaptured. 

“  It  was  suggested  that  Gen.  Sheridan  should  first 
ride  down  the  line,  so  that  his  presence  might  en¬ 
courage  the  troops,  and  that  they  might  know  that 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  85 

the  General  was  once  more  among  them.  He  had 
on  a  new  overcoat,  such  as  we  all  wore,  and  this  he 
took  off  and  handed  to  an  orderly.  Then  a  pair  of 
Major-General’s  epaulets  were  fastened  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  in  the  full  uniform  of  his  rank  at 
the  head  of  his  staff  he  went  dashing  down  the  line. 
What  a  scene  that  was  !  I  never  expect  to  witness 
such  another.  The  huzzas  and  shouts  were  deaf¬ 
ening.  His  presence  was  as  effective  as  two  full 
army  corps.  Sheridan  said  but  little.  Pointing  to 
our  enemy’s  tents  from  which  we  had  been  driven, 
he  said : 

‘ c  ‘  Hoys,  those  tents  are  ours  ;  we  will  sleep  in 
them  to-night,  will  we  not  ?  ” 

“  A  shout,  4  That  we  will ! 5  was  the  answer,  and 
a  charge  was  made  such  as  no  power  on  earth  could 
have  stayed.  Sheridan  looked  the  ideal  soldier  and 
he  had  that  peculiar  power  of  inspiring  every  one 
about  him  with  his  own  confidence,  as  well  as  to 
hold  the  love  and  affection  of  his  men.” 

THE  ROSSER  EPISODE. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1887,  the  Times  of  Winches¬ 
ter,  Va.,  published  the  following  letter  fron  Gen. 
Thomas  L.  Rosser,  who  had  served  with  honor  as 
a  cavalry  officer  in  the  Confederate  army,  to  Major 
Holmes  Conrad,  of  Winchester  : 

“  My  Dear  Major  :  I  have  seen  it  reported  re-« 
cently  in  the  newspapers  that  Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan, 
U.S.A.,  contemplates  at  an  early  day  another  ride 
up  the  Shenandoah  Talley.  I  had  hoped  that  our 
beautiful  valley  would  never  again  be  desecrated  by 
his  footprints.  Cold,  cruel  and  brutal  must  be  the 


86 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


character  of  this  soldier  who  fondly  cherishes  mem¬ 
ories  of  the  wild,  wanton  waste  and  desolation 
which  his  barbarous  torch  spread  through  the  val¬ 
ley,  laying  in  ashes  the  beautiful  and  happy  homes 
of  innocent  women,  young  and  helpless  children 
and  aged  men,  and  who  over  these  ruins  boasted 
that  ‘  now  a  crow  cannot  fly  over  this  valley  with¬ 
out  carrying  its  rations.’  Gen.  Sheridan  has  done 
nothing  since  the  war  to  atone  for  his  barbarism 
during  the  war.  We  have  not  forgotten  that  dur¬ 
ing  his  reign  in  New  Orleans,  he  asked  that  our 
fellow-citizens  of  Louisiana  might  be  proclaimed 
banditti  in  order  that  he  might  set  the  dogs  of  war 
on  them.  I  have  forgiven  the  brave  men  of  the 
Union  armies  whom  I  met  in  honorable  battle,  and 
who  Anally  triumphed  over  us  in  the  great  struggle. 
Among  them  I  can  now  name  many  of  my  warmest 
and  truest  and  most  prized  friends.  They  are  good 
and  true  to  me  and  think  none  the  less  of  us  for 
having  fought  them.  Indeed,  they  esteem  him 
highest  among  us  who  fought  them  the  hardest. 
Sheridan  is  not  one  of  this  kind,  and  never  accorded 
to  us  that  peace  which  Grant  proclaimed.  I  now 
say  to  you,  my  dear  major,  and  to  our  gallant  com¬ 
rades  who  are  now  in  the  valley,  that  I  hope  you 
will  allow  this  man  to  make  his  triumphant  ride  up 
the  valley  in  peace,  but  have  him  go  like  the  miser¬ 
able  crow,  carrying  his  rations  with  him. 

“  Yours  truly, 

“Thos.  L.  Bosser.” 

This  letter  caused  a  great  sensation,  as  it  was 
written  at  the  very  time  when  Massachusetts  sol- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


87 


diers  were  being  entertained  in  Richmond,  and  was 
a  rare  instance  of  a  Southern  man  of  high  standing 
waving  the  bloody  shirt.  The  leading  newspapers 
North  and  South  denounced  Gen.  Rosser’s  letter. 

Gen.  Sheridan  had  this  to  say  of  it : 

‘  ‘  Rosser  has  not  forgot  the  whaling  I  gave  him 
in  the  valley,  and  I  am  not  surprised  that  he  loses 
his  temper  when  he  recalls  it.  Occasionally  Rosser 
would  come  across  small  detachments  of  our  troops 
and  would  swoop  down  on  them.  Finally  it  was 
reported  to  me  that  Gen.  Rosser  had  captured  my 
pack-train.  This  made  me  mad.  Halting  the  entire 
army  right  in  the  road,  I  galloped  to  the  rear  de¬ 
termined  to  settle  Rosser.  I  found  the  train  was 
not  captured,  but  was  coming  in  considerably  scat¬ 
tered  and  broken  up.  I  told  Torbert  I  wanted 
Rosser  cleaned  out,  and  that  if  he  could  not  do  it  I 
would  take  his  division  and  do  it  myself.  I  con¬ 
cluded  that  I  would  remain  and  see  the  work  per¬ 
formed,  and  so  informed  Torbert.  The  following 
morning  Torbert  went  after  Rosser,  whose  brigade 
was  struck  with  an  impetuosity  that  caused  it  to 
scatter.  We  stripped  the  enemy  of  everything  they 
had  captured  ;  all  their  guns  except  one,  which  sub¬ 
sequently  fell  into  our  hands,  and  all  their  baggage, 
including  the  personal  effects  of  Rosser.  It  was  a 
regular  frolic  for  our  boys.  Torbert  pursued 
Rosser  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles.  He  did  not 
trouble  me  further.” 

LITTLE  PHIL  IN  BOSTON. 

On  the  first  day  of  February,  1888,  Little  Phil 
visited  Boston  and  held  the  town  a  willing  captive. 


88 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


It  was  his  first  visit  to  the  Hub  after  succeeding  Gen. 
Hancock  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  military 
order  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  The  town  unbent  itself 
and  made  every  effort  to  render  his  stay  pleasant. 
He  was  dined  as  often  as  he  could  eat,  and  the 
Governor,  his  wife,  the  legislators,  Mayor,  city  gov¬ 
ernment,  the  military,  the  Back  Bay  aristocrat, 
the  merchant,  the  Arab  and  the  public  school  boy 
united  to  do  him  honor.  The  fact,  of  course,  was 
that  his  name  was  brought  into  the  list  of  possible 
Republican  Presidential  candidates,  and  the  more 
that  Gen.  Sheridan  was  talked  of  as  a  candidate 
for  President  the  more  loudly  echoed  the  expres¬ 
sions  all  the  country  over  in  his  favor. 

From  the  first,  however,  Sheridan  was  prompt  to 
discourage  the  idea  of  putting  him  forward  for 
Presidential  honors.  On  the  19th  of  February  the 
Washington  agent  of  the  Associated  Press  sought 
an  interview  with  Gen.  Sheridan  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  he  would  made  an  authorita¬ 
tive  statement  regarding  his  alleged  candidacy. 
The  soldier  said  he  had  never  looked  upon  the  news¬ 
paper  articles  with  reference  to  the  matter  as  any¬ 
thing  more  than  the  usual  shooting  around  in  the 
woods  which  had  once  or  twice  before  in  Presidential 
years  brought  his  name  up  in  that  connection.  “  I 
never,”  he  said,  “  have  had  the  Presidential  bee  in 
my  bonnet,  and  I  don’t  intend  to  have  it,  for  there 
is  nothing  that  would  induce  me  to  leave  the  pro¬ 
fession  in  which  nearly  forty  years  of  my  life 
have  been  spent  to  enter  upon  a  civil  career.  So 
all  talk  about  my  being  a  Presidential  candidate 
may  as  well  end.  I  would  not  accept,  no,  not 


HUNTEfi 


BURNSIDE 


M? CLELLAN 


FREMONT. 


*±Q  OKE« 


LIFE  OF  GEN".  SHERIDAN. 


89 


under  any  circumstances.  I  do  not  want  that  or 
any  other  civil  office.” 

And  so,  still  true  to  his  first  love,  leal  to  the  pro¬ 
fession  of  arms,  he  chid  away  the  ambition  which, 
whispering  at  the  portals  of  most  men’s  ears, 
would  have  lured  them  to  the  pursuit  of  the  bubble 
of  civic  renown. 

A  BRAVE  AND  DASHING  SOLDIER. 

Gen.  Daniel  Butterfield,  an  old  companion-in- 
arms  of  Gen.  Sheridan,  spoke  of  him  as  follows  : 
“We  had  always  been  warm  personal  friends,  and  I 
have  been  very  fond  of  him  as  a  man  outside  of  my 
warm  admiration  for  his  soldierly  characteristics. 
He  was  a  great  soldier,  a  fighting  soldier.  As  a 
leader  he  has  never  had  a  superior,  in  my  judg¬ 
ment,  in  any  army,  at  any  time.  I  remember  very 
vividly  my  first  meeting  with  Gen.  Sheridan.  It 
was  in  the  Chattanooga  campaign,  after  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  and  I  went  out  with  the  two  corps 
which  were  sent  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
In  the  battle  in  front  of  Mission  Ridge,  when  Sheri¬ 
dan  led  his  division  beyond  the  rifle-pits  at  the 
base  and  to  the  top  of  the  ridge,  being  ordered  only 
to  take  the  rifle-pits,  he  first  attracted  Gen.  Grant’s 
notice  as  a  leader.  Grant  had  known  him  before 
the  war,  but  the  exhibition  of  Sheridan’s  peculiar 
bold  dashing  qualities  as  a  soldier  brought  him  into 
great  prominence  on  that  occasion. 

“  The  night  after  the  battle  I  met  Sheridan  again, 
and  the  strong,  positive  nature  of  the  man  made 
a7  lasting  impression  on  me.  Sheridan  had  come 
up  in  front  of  Mission  Ridge  with  his  division, 


90 


LIFE  OF  GEE".  SHERIDAN. 


and  I  was  with  the  advance  of  Gen.  Osterhaus’s 
division  and  Cruft’s  with  Gen.  Hooker  on  the 
crest  of  the  Ridge  and  at  the  enemy’s  left. 
The  converging  of  our  two  lines  at  right  angles 
corralled,  so  to  speak,  a  very  large  number  of 
prisoners.  Gen.  Sheridan  was  much  delighted  with 
the  situation,  and  vigorously  pushed  out  with  his 
division  to  pursue  the  retreating  forces.  Operations 
were  suspended  for  the  night  when  darkness  came, 
and  along  about  10  o’clock  I  rode  by  accident 
through  Gen.  Sheridan’s  bivouac.  I  found  him  in 
front  of  a  camp-fire  pacing  to  and  fro  in  a  very 
earnest  way,  and  he  seemed  rather  displeased  at 
something.  4  General,  you  don’ t  seem  very  much 
gratified  after  such  a  grand  success  as  you  have  had 
to-day,’  I  remarked.  ‘What’s  the  trouble?’  His 
reply  was  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  showed  his 
dissatisfaction  and  impatience  because  darkness  had 
prevented  his  vigorous  forward  movement. 

'We  were  in  Italy  together  after  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war,”  continued  Gen.  Butterfield,  “and 
his  stories  and  recollection  of  past  campaigns  were 
exceedingly  interesting  and  very  vivid.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  if  these  incidents  of  the  war  have  not  been 
written  out  by  him  or  under  his  direction.  The  last 
time  we  were  together  was  at  the  obsequies  of  the 
late  Gen.  Paez  a  few  weeks  ago.  Gen.  Sheridan 
put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  and  said  :  4  My  dear 
fellow,  I  begin  to  realize  that  I’m  not  as  strong  and 
as  tough  as  I  used  to  be,’  and  then  he  asked  if  I 
thought  it  wise  for  him  to  ride  in  an  open  carriage. 
We  took  a  closed  carriage,  and  the  troop  of  First 
Hussars  were  detailed  as  a  special  escort  for  us. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


91 


They  were  handsomely  mounted,  a  fine-looking 
body  of  men.  Gen.  Sheridan  looked  at  them  very 
carefully,  his  eye  sparkled  with  delight,  and  he  said, 
turning  to  me  :  4  Butterfield,  how  I  would  like  to  be 
twenty-five  years  old  and  be  one  of  those  boys !  ’ 

44  During  our  ride  I  referred  to  the  earnest  desire 
many  of  his  old  comrades  in  arms  had  to  see  him 
made  President.  He  said':  4  It  would  be  very  foolish 
in  me,  and  aside  from  that  it  would  kill  me  in  sixty 
days.  I  know  myself  and  my  nature  and  the 
situation  well  enough  to  know  that.’  His  was  an 
earnest,  truthful  nature  :  there  was  no  deceit  in 
him.” 

BUFFALO  BILL  FOUGHT  WITH  HIM. 

Buffalo  Bill  said,  when  asked  if  he  knew  Gen. 
Sheridan  :  44 1  know  him  well  as  an  able  and  gallant 
officer  and  a  true  gentleman.  He  was  like  Gen. 
Boulanger,  in  that  he  inspired  enthusiasm  in  all  his 
men,  and  had  their  confidence  and  respect  to  an 
extent  rarely  witnessed.  There  was  a  certain  ro¬ 
mantic  dash  about  him  that  made  soldiers  take  a 
personal  pride  in  being  under  his  command,  and  you 
will  hear  men  say  proudly,  4 1  was  with  Phil  Sheri¬ 
dan.’  and  then  relate  instances  of  his  soldierly 
qualities.  He  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  our  army 
during  the  war,  which  was  weaker  in  able  cavalry 
officers  than  the  Confederate  army.  It,  however, 
had  no  cavalry  commander  who  was  the  equal  of 
Sheridan.  Personally,  he  was  a  man  whom  every¬ 
body  loved  who  met  him.  He  was  genial  and  com¬ 
panionable.  He  had  a  remarkable  memory,  and, 
although  he  never  posed  as  a  book -worm,  was  well- 


92 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


read,  possessing  a  rare  knowledge  of  military  litera¬ 
ture.  He  could  write  a  great  book  on  the  art  of 
war.  With  me  lie  will  always  be  associated  with 
the  pleasantest  memories.” 

gen.  sherman’s  estimate. 

Gen.  William  Tecumseh  Sherman  stated:  “I 
have  frequently  given  my  estimate  of  Gen.  Sheri¬ 
dan — and  the  world  knows  what  it  is— what  I 
thought  of  his  great  abilities  as  a  soldier  and  of  his 
character  as  a  man.  Sheridan’s  place  in  history 
has  long  been  established.  His  deeds  and  achieve¬ 
ments,  with  those  of  Grant,  Logan  and  other  great 
commanders  of  the  civil  war,  are  familiar  house¬ 
hold  words  throughout  the  land.” 

CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW’S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  said  recently  :  “  I  did  not 
know  Gen.  Sheridan  intimately,  and  I  do  not  know 
as  I  could  give  an  estimate  of  his  character  that 
would  be  of  any  value.  Gen.  Grant  once  told  me, 
however,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation,  that  he 
regarded  Gen.  Sheridan  as  the  greatest  soldier  of 
the  war,  and  that  he  did  not  think  Sheridan’ s  supe¬ 
rior  as  a  field  officer  could  be  found  in  the  world. 
Gen.  Grant  was  certainly  capable  of  judging  such 
matters,  and  his  opinion  of  Sheridan  will  probably 
be  accepted  by  the  country  at  iarge.  I  have  met 
Gen.  Sheridan  a  good  many  times  at  dinners  and 
other  places.  My  acquaintance  with  him  was  very 
friendly  and  pleasant.  I  found  in  him  a  jolly,  un¬ 
affected  man,  full  of  good  stories  himself  and  fond 
of  hearing  them  from  others.  He  was  in  no  sense  a 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


93 


partisan,  and  I  believe  he  took  very  little  interest 
in  politics.  I  think  it  doubtful  if  he  voted  at  all 
of  late  years.  We  are  more  than  ever  forcibly  re¬ 
minded  that  the  heroes  of  the  war  are  fast  disap¬ 
pearing  from  view,  and  that  we  are  going  rapidly 
into  an  age  that  has  no  actual  recollection  of  that 
great  conflict.  Sherman  and  Rosecrans  are  about 
the  only  ones  left  among  the  more  prominent  com¬ 
manders  on  the  Union  side.  All  of  the  comman¬ 
ders  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  are  gone.  Three-fourths  of  the  voting 
population  of  the  country  have  become  voters  since 
the  war  closed,  and  one-third  of  our  voters  were 
born  since  that  memorable  conflict  began.  It  is 
hard  for  me  to  realize  it,  but  to  the  majority  of  our 
people  the  war  is  simply  a  history,  they  have  no 
actual  recollection  of  it.  It  is  remarkable,  too,  the 
ignorance  of  the  younger  generation  of  the  events 
oi  the  war — where  the  great  battles  were  fought, 
who  commanded,  etc.  They  know  as  little  about 
it  as  they  do  of  the  Mexican  war  and  the  Revolu¬ 
tion.  ” 

OTHER  TRIBUTES  TO  THE  SOLDIER. 

Major-Gen.  Daniel  E.  Sickles  said:  “  He  was  a 
great  soldier.  Gen.  Grant  told  me  he  regarded 
Sheridan  as  the  greatest  soldier  of  his  time.  Yon 
Moltke,  with  whom  he  spent  some  time  at  head¬ 
quarters  during  the  Franco-Prussian  war  as  his 
guest,  had  a  very  high  opinion  of  him.  Among  the 
most  serious  mistakes  made  by  the  Emperor  Napo¬ 
leon  III.  was  when  he  refused  to  receive  Gen.  Sheri¬ 
dan  at  headquarters,  saying  he  didn’t  want  any 


94 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


foreign  officers  there.  Sheridan’s  sympathies  were 
naturally  with  the  French,  I  think,  and  the  Empe¬ 
ror  would  have  got  many  precious  hints  from  him. 
Sheridan  would  have  told  him  how  to  operate  on 
the  German  communications,  which  the  French 
never  knew  how  to  cut  or  disturb. 

“  Sheridan’s  character  impressed  itself  readily 
upon  his  command.  He  gave  to  his  men  an  intrep¬ 
idity,  a  confidence,  an  audacity  like  his  own,  which 
enabled  him  to  get  a  great  deal  more  work  out  of 
ten  thousand  than  another  commander  would  get 
from  twenty  thousand.  His  presence  with  a  com¬ 
mand  fairly  doubled  its  strength.  And  it  may  be 
said  of  Sheridan,  as  well  as  of  Sherman  and  Grant, 
that,  apart  from  their  military  genius,  much  of 
their  success  was  due  to  their  unbounded  confi¬ 
dence  in  volunteer  soldiers.  That  confidence  was 
reciprocated  by  the  soldiers  and  made  them  invin¬ 
cible.  His  military  career  was  remarkable.  He 
was  a  humble  lieutenant  when  the  war  began,  and 
in  four  years  he  carved  his  way  with  his  sword  to 
the  position  of,  perhaps  the  most  brilliant  of  all  the 
commanders.  Of  course,  in  saying  this,  I  detract 
nothing  from  the  reputation  of  Sherman  and  Han¬ 
cock,  whose  genius  was  equally  great  with  Sheri¬ 
dan’s,  but  of  a  different  temperament.  Sheridan’s 
peculiar  genius  was  shown  most  most  forcibly  at 
Winchester  and  Five  Forks.  Those  two  combats 
mark  him  as  a  tactician  and  leader  of  the  highest 
order. 

“  Sheridan’s  character  as  a  soldier  is  summed  np 
in  one  of  his  famous  phrases  at  Five  Forks — ‘  Push 
things  l  ’  M 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


95 


SOLDIER  AND  CITIZEN. 

GENERAL  SCOFIELD’S  LOVING  WORDS. 

“  I  deeply  regret  the  loss  the  army  has  sustained, 
and  I  have  lost  a  very  dear  comrade  and  lifelong 
friend.  Sheridan  and  I  were  at  W est  Point  together. 
He  entered  the  Academy  in  1848,  and  I  came  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year.  We  graduated  in  the  same  class,  how¬ 
ever,  in  1853,  as  did  also  General  James  B.  McPher¬ 
son,  who  was  killed  in  1864  at  Atlanta  while  re¬ 
pulsing  a  sortie.  John  B.  Hood,  who  rose  to  the 
rank  of  a  general  in  the  Confederate  service,  was 
likewise  a  fellow-classmate  of  ours. 

“  All  four  of  us  were  warm  friends  through  all  our 
lives.  For  Sheridan  I  always  entertained  a  deep 
affection,  a  sentiment  I  knew  he  returned  Me  Pher- 
son  cherished  the  same  feelings  for  Sheridan  and 
myself  as  we  did  for  him.  Though  Hood  was  on  the 
other  side  we,  who  remained  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States  government,  only  regretted  that  his 
different  ideas  of  duty  had  separated  us  from  a 
pleasant  comrade. 

“  Regarding  General  Sheridan’s  military  career,  I 
do  not  know  that  I  can  say  anything  to  add  to  his 
fame.  Both  Grant  and  Sherman  have  taken  occa¬ 
sion  in  their  memoirs  to  speak  of  Sheridan  in  the 
highest  terms,  and  I  consider  the  estimates  of  these 
two  chief  commanders  are  just,  and  their  praise 
well  deserved.  Grant  knew  Sheridan  best,  and  his 
tribute  to  his  gallant  subordinate  is  one  of  the  many 
touches  which  have  revealed  to  us  the  true  char- 


96 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


acter  and  generous  nature  of  tlie  greatest  soldier  of 
his  time.  To  Sherman  my  dead  friend  was  best 
known  as  a  young  officer,  full  of  dash  and  vigor,  yet 
he  saw  enough  of  him  to  known  that  Philip  H. 
Sheridan  was  no  common  soldier. 

“  To  me  Sheridan  was  always  the  beau  ideal  of  a 
true  soldier  and  a  really  great  commander.  He  is 
one  of  the  few  American  officers  who  attained  high 
and  responsible  rank  through  his  natural  force  of 
character  and  his  military  genius.  He  was  a 
marked  man,  even  at  West  Point,  for  he  displayed 
at  that  early  stage  of  his  military  life  the  same 
sterling  qualities  which  subsequently  made  him  a 
prominent  character  in  our  national  history. 

“As  a  cadet  he  was  noticeable  among  his  fellows 
for  devotion  to  drill  and  the  routine  of  study.  Ho 
lesson  was  distasteful  to  him,  no  branch  was  slighted 
or  neglected.  He  took  great  pleasure  in  the  practi¬ 
cal  studies  and  was  as  fond  of  the  manual  of  arms 
as  the  handling  of  field  guns.  In  the  riding  school 
and  the  cavalry  evolutions  Sheridan  was  in  his  ele¬ 
ment,  for  he  loved  horses.  In  the  saddle  he  was  at 
home,  and  he  became  a  proficient  swordsman. 
While  learning  the  duties  of  a  soldier  Sheridan  was 
invariably  cheerful  and  light-hearted,  being  fond  of 
mischief  at  times,  though  he  never  overstepped  the 
rules  of  discipline.  He  and  I  were  chums,  and  our 
friendship  was  never  marred  or  shaken  in  after¬ 
years.  As  I  remember  him  he  was  a  young  man 
whom  everybody  at  the  Point  liked,  and  he  was  a 
favorite  with  the  professors. 

“  Sheridan  was  a  very  impulsive  man,  and  rather 
quick,  if  not  hasty,  in  his  anger.  It  was  his  nature 


.LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


97 


and  not  his  fault,  for  he  could  not  help  it,  though 
he  always  strove  to  overcome  the  defect.  But  how¬ 
ever  quick  and  hasty  he  might  be,  he  was  always 
ready  and  prompt  to  make  the  most  generous 
amends.  While  he  was  in  command  of  a  division 
in  the  West  he  was  very  harsh  one  day  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  an  unfortunate  Colonel  who  was  in  tempo¬ 
rary  command  of  a  brigade.  Sheridan  fell  into  a 
fierce  rage,  and  in  his  hot  anger  used  language 
which  the  Colonel  felt  compelled  to  resent,  being 
as  passionate  a  man  as  Sheridan.  The  moment  he 
uttered  his  words  of  resentment  Sheridan’s  anger 

cooled  off  as  suddenly  as  it  had  risen.  On  the 

«/ 

instant  he  held  out  his  hand  to  the  astonished 
Colonel,  saying,  “  You  are  right,  and  I  am  wrong. 
I  beg  your  pardon  !  ” 

“From  that  day  Sheridan  had  no  better  friend 
than  this  Colonel,  who  never  forgot  the  incident  or 
the  lesson,  though  he  himself  rose  to  the  rank  of  a 
general. 

I  was  not  present  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  dur- 
Sheridan’s  famous  campaign,  but  I  have  had  the 
scenes  in  the  battles  of  Winchester  and  Cedar  Creek 
vividly  described  to  me  by  competent  eye-witnesses. 
From  these  descriptions  I  became  convinced  that 
those  important  victories  were  not  only  gained  by 
his  military  skill,  but  were  due  in  a  great  measure 
to  his  soldierly  qualities  and  his  personal  magne¬ 
tism  and  electrical  influence  over  his  troops. 

“  Every  officer  I  have  ever  met,  whatever  rank 
they  might  have  held,  who  served  under  Sheridan 
in  the  West  or  the  East,  have  shown  by  their  lan¬ 
guage  that  they  honored  and  loved  him.  That  is 


98 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


something  you  cannot  say  of  every  man  who  wore 
the  shoulder-straps  of  a  general. 

“  How  I  wish  Philip  H.  Sheridan  could  have  been 
longer  spared  to  his  country  and  to  the  army,  for  he 
was  a  great  man,  a  faithful  public  servant  and  a  sol¬ 
dier  of  heroic  mould.  American  history  will  record 
his  services  as  those  of  a  man  who  always  sought  to 
do  his  duty  wherever  he  found  it,  and  will  speak  of 
him  as  his  career  deserves. 

Gen.  Crook  said  : 

4  4  General  Sheridan  and  I  were  classmates  at 
West  Point.  He  came  there  a  somewhat  raw  coun¬ 
try  youth,  like  the  most  of  us,  and  I  cannot  recall 
anything  that  in  those  days  marked  him  as  proba¬ 
bly  destined  for  an  extrordinary  career  of  any  kind. 
I  would  say  that  he  appreciated  his  good  fortune  in 
having  obtained  a  nomination  to  a  cadetship,  and 
realized  the  necessity  of  hard  study  and  a  clean 
record  to  take  him  through  his  classes  to  the  de¬ 
sired  commission.  He  stood  well  with  his  fellow 
cadets,  though  possessing  none  of  that  brilliancy 
that  goes  to  the  making  of  the  pets  or  idols  of  the 
corps.  He  was  a  quiet,  civil,  little  fellow,  indus* 
trious  at  his  lessons,  attentive  at  his  recitations, 
and  careful  in  the  many  little  things  that  go  to  the 
fixing  of  a  cadet’s  standing  for  obedience  and  disci¬ 
pline.  After  graduation  we  were  members  of  the 
same  regiment,  but  I  really  saw  little  of  him  till 
the  war  was  well  advanced.  Concerning  his  quali¬ 
ties  as  a  commander  I  am  not  presumptuous  enough 
to  suppose  that  I  can  add  anything  to  the  much 
that  has  been  said,  and  on  the  whole  well  said,  of 
him,  both  as  a  leader  of  cavalry  and  as  an  inde- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


99 


pendent  commander.  Popular  opinion  has  associ¬ 
ated  his  name  with  that  of  Grant  and  Sherman  as 
the  pre-eminent  soldiers  on  the  Federal  side  of  the 
civil  war,  and  this  opinion  has  been  confirmed  by 
those  at  home  and  abroad  who  have  made  the  art  of 
war  a  study.  He  was  liked  in  the  service  by  all 
ranks  and  at  all  times,  both  as  a  man  and  an  officer, 
and  that  to  my  mind  is  as  good  an  evidence  as  could 
be  of  his  manly  and  soldierly  qualities.  His  name 
is  a  bright  one  on  the  roll  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  and  I  believe  that  he  earned  and  deserved 
all  the  fame  and  fortune  that  came  to  him.  He  made 
his  own  way  in  the  profession,  and  so  far  as  I  know 
he  never  stood  in  the  light  of  any  of  his  comrades.’ ’ 

General  W.  S.  Rosecrans  said :  “When  I  took 
command  of  the  small  Army  of  the  Mississippi 
Sheridan  was  colonel  of  a  Michigan  regiment  in 
that  army.  I  knew  him  well  and  watched  his  ca¬ 
reer  closely.  He  was  a  hard  fighter,  stubborn  and 
unyielding.  At  Booneville  he  won  his  first  star, 
and  at  Stone  River  another,  and  so  on,  and  every 
success  that  has  come  to  him  has  been  earned. 
With  all  his  stubbornness  and  dash  he  was  prudent, 
cautious,  a  good  provider  for  his  army,  and  was 
always  careful  to  know  the  topography  of  the 
country  in  which  he  was  operating.  And  then  he 
was  prompt  to  take  his  troops  into  action  under 
heavy  firing.  There  are  many  men  who  do  unpleas¬ 
ant  things,  even  though  a  duty,  hesitatingly.  They 
wait  and  consider  and  doubt.  Sheridan,  on  the  in¬ 
stant,  went  straight  for  the  mark ;  no  delays,  no 
doubts.  He  was  indeed  a  great  general,  and  the 
country  will  deeply  mourn  his  loss.” 


100 


LIFE  OF  UEN.  slIEAlDAxf. 


Representative  Spinola,  of  New  York,  said  :  “  I 

first  met  Sheridan  in  1862,  in  the  Army  of  the  Po¬ 
tomac.  He  was  then  in  charge  of  the  cavalry  forces, 
and  his  qualities  as  a  soldier  endeared  him  to  every 
man  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army.  He  was 
looked  up  to  with  the  highest  degree  of  respect  by 
everybody  as  one  of  the  first  fighters  in  the  army. 
Since  the  war  my  connection  with  General  Sheridan 
was  purely  social,  and  it  has  always  been  very  pleas¬ 
ant.  It  could  not  have  been  otherwise,  owing  to 
his  genial  qualities  and  the  fact  that  he  followed 
the  dictates  of  a  great  big  generous  heart.” 

Inspector- General  Baird,  who  was  graduated  from 
the  West  Point  Academy  three  years  before  Gene¬ 
ral  Sheridan,  and  who  from  the  first  years  of  the 
war  was  intimately  associated  with  him  in  the  army, 
expressed  the  opinion  that  General  Sheridan  was 
fully  the  equal  of  any  soldier  in  history. 

Senator  Reagan  of  Texas,  Postmaster-General  of 
the  Confederacy,  said  :  “I  think  the  country  has 
lost  a  very  able  officer.” 

Major-General  C.  M.  Wilcox,  who  commanded 
a  division  in  A.  P.  Hill’s  corps,  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  said:  “The  only  time  I  met  Sheridan 
during  the  war  was  at  Appomattox,  when  General 
Gordon  and  myself  received  him  with  a  flag  of  truce. 
He  came  to  our  line  to  inquire  whether  it  were  true 
that  negotiations  were  pending  for  Lee’s  surrender. 
To  Gordon’s  affirmative  answer,  he  said,  ‘Well, 
then,  let  us  draw  off  our  forces,  that  not  another 
man  may  be  hurt,’  which  was  done.” 

Representative  Wheeler,  of  Alabama,  said  the 
first  time  he  met  Sheridan  was  under  a  flag  of  truce 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


101 


in  1862.  “  He  told  me,”  said  General  Wheeler, 

4  4  all  about  his  promotion,  and  expressed  his  deter¬ 
mination  to  deserve  it.  In  the  course  of  that  inter¬ 
view  I  was  struck  by  the  strength  of  purpose  ex¬ 
hibited  by  him.” 

Representative  Forney  of  Alabama  said  :  44  I  was 
opposed  to  him  at  Appomattox.  There  he  rendered 
greater  service  than  any  other  man.  On  the  7th  we 
had  whipped  them  (the  Union  forces),  but  he  came 
around  us  on  the  8th  and  forced  us  to  surrender, 
for  otherwise  we  would  have  reached  Lynchburg, 
and  securing  fresh  supplies  would  have  been  able  to 
have  held  out.  He  turned  our  right  and  forced  us 
to  evacuate  the  work  at  Petersburg  Five  Forks. 
He  captured  the  last  railroad  and  forced  us  to 
leave.  He  was  afterward  in  our  rear  and  finally  in 
our  front.  Altogether  as  a  lieutenant  under  Gene¬ 
ral  Grant  he  had  no  superior  and  there  could  have 
been  no  better.” 

Representative  Chandler  of  Georgia,  who  was  a 
colonel  in  the  Confederate  army,  said  he  regarded 
General  Sheridan  as  a  very  gallant  man  and  a  supe¬ 
rior  military  chieftain.  Certainly  he  was  a  very 
distinguished  soldier,  a  man  of  unquestionably  sol¬ 
dierly  qualities,  and  as  conscientious  as  any  man. 

Secretary  Endicott  said:  44  General  Sheridan’s 
death  is  a  great  loss  to  the  army  and  this  depart¬ 
ment.  I  mean  as  a  practical,  energetic  man  of 
affairs.  He  had  a  wide  experience,  gathered  during 
an  active  military  life.  He  knew  and  understood 
all  conditions  of  army  life  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  of  the  people  with  whom  our  soldiers  have  to 
deal,  including  the  Indians,  in  whom  he  took  pecu- 


102 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


liar  interest.  He  was  wise  and  sagacious,  and  Ms 
judgment  was  marked  by  readiness  in  decision  and 
guided  by  shrewd  common  sense.  He  had  so  long 
held  high  command,  and  had  been  attended  by  such 
success,  that  he  felt  a  confidence  in  his  administra¬ 
tion  of  affairs  which  was  rarely  at  fault.  I  always 
found  him  most  reasonable  and  ready  to  look  at  all 
sides  of  a  question,  and  for  a  man  of  such  impulses 
most  open  to  conviction.  As  a  soldier  he,  of  course, 
stands  quite  by  himself,  differing  with  a  marked 
and  intense  individuality  from  all  our  distinguished 
soldiers.  As  a  cavalry  soldier  he  was  preeminent. 
The  rapidity  of  his  movements,  the  energy  with 
which  he  inspired  officers  and  men,  his  unerring  in¬ 
stincts  on  the  battle-field  led  necessarily  to  great 
success,  that  was  well  deserved.  He  was  very  in¬ 
teresting  and  entertaining  in  social  intercourse :  he 
had  a  fund  of  anecdote,  a  variety  of  information 
that  often  was  very  instructive.  His  experiences 
in  Europe,  when  he  accompanied  the  German  army 
to  France  in  1870,  were  varied  and  very  interesting. 

Secretary  Fairchild  said  that  he  had  become  ac¬ 
quainted  with  General  Sheridan  since  his  arrival  in 
Washington,  and  had  taken  a  great  liking  to  him 
from  the  first. 

Postmaster  General  Dickinson  said  :  “He  was  a 
great  general,  and  had  the  simplicity  of  manners 
which  always  accompanies  true  greatness.  Fie  at¬ 
tached  men  to  him  with  an  affection  in  which  there 
was  something  of  peculiar  tenderness.  FT o  man 
was  more  universally  loved,  and  the  places  that 
knew  him  and  all  at  the  capital  will  miss  him 
sadly.” 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


103 


All  the  leading  Senators  and  members  of  Congress 
spoke  in  terms  of  admiration  for  General  Sheridan 
as  a  soldier  and  as  a  man,  those  who  had  long 
known  him  extolling  him  highly  and  all  echoing 
the  sentiment  of  sorrow  for  his  death. 


CLASSMATES’  RECOLLECTIONS. 

BLOWS  WITH  A  COMRADE  WHICH  COST  HIM  ONE 

YEAR’S  SUSPENSION. 

“  General  Sheridan  and  myself  were  classmates 
at  West  Point  in  1849,”  said  Assistant  Adjutant 
General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  “  and  among  other 
members  of  that  class  was  W.  R.  Terrill,  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Perry ville,  Ky. ,  October  8,  1862,  who  was 
indirectly  the  cause  of  General  Sheridan’s  being  set 
back  a  year  in  his  class  at  the  Academy.  During 
the  first  encampment  of  the  cadets  in  1849,  Sheri¬ 
dan,  A.  V.  Kautz — now  colonel  of  the  Eighth 
Infantry — and  myself  were  tent-makers  for  two 
months,  and  naturally  were  brought  into  very  close 
communication.  There  were  fifty-two  members  in 
our  class,  which  graduated  in  1853,  General  Sheri¬ 
dan  standing  34. 

u  While  at  West  Point  he  was  always  known  for 
his  diffidence,  and  in  after-life  he  was  never  ob¬ 
trusive,  no  matter  what  the  conditions  or  circum¬ 
stances  might  be.  He  was  always  sociable,  however, 
and  a  great  favorite  in  circles  in  which  he  mingled. 
After  he  located  permanently  at  Washington,  Kautz, 
Sheridan  and  myself  were  always  very  friendly, 


104 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


from  the  fact  that  we  were  all  Buckeyes,  and  tlie 
General  was  always  well  disposed  toward  any  one 
from  liis  native  State.” 

Brigadier- General  Thomas  H.  Rogers,  command¬ 
ing  the  department  of  Dakota,  was  at  West  Point 
at  the  same  time  with  General  Sheridan,  but  was 
two  classes  lower,  as  he  did  not  enter  the  Academy 
until  1851. 

“  I  remember  as  well  as  if  it  happened  to-day,” 
said  the  General,  “the  difficulty  between  Cadet 
Phil  Sheridan  and  Cadet  Corporal  W.  B.  Terrill, 
who  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  was  considerably 
larger  and  taller  than  Sheridan,  but  both  were  noted 
among  the  cadets  as  being  very  game  fellows.  They 
had  words  between  them  about  some  matter,  I  don’t 
recall  exactly  what  it  was,  but  it  culminated  in 
Sheridan  striking  the  Virginian  as  the  parade  roll 
was  being  called  for  dinner  and  the  battalion  was 
drawn  up  in  line. 

“When  the  trouble  broke  out,  caused  by  some 
remark  of  Terrill’s,  without  hesitation  as  to  conse¬ 
quences,  Sheridan  retaliated  with  a  blow,  but  this 
was  as  far  as  the  difficulty  went.  Both  cadets  were 
separated,  and  Sheridan  was  placed  in  arrest  for  his 
infraction  of  discipline.  That  blow  cost  him  one 
year’s  suspension,  and  he  was  sent  home  to  his  resi¬ 
dence  in  Ohio.  There  was  no  effort  made  by  either 
of  the  principals  to  come  together  and  settle  the 
difficulty  with  another  fight,  and  afterward  they 
became  good  friends. 

“His  qualities,  dash,  and  impetuosity  endeared 
him  to  General  Grant,  who  always  spoke  of  him  in 
the  highest  terms  as  a  brave  officer,  and  one  in  whom 


CAP-TUBE  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN. 


Life  of  gen.  sheeldan. 


105 


lie  had  the  most  implicit  confidence.  Sheridan 
possessed  personal  magnetism  which  made  him  the 
idol  of  his  command,  and  his  impulsiveness  was  in 
direct  contrast  with  the  phlegmatic  temperament  of 
Grant,  who  was  beloved  by  his  troops  for  his  plain, 
unassuming  manners.  Undoubtedly  General  Sheri¬ 
dan  was  one  of  the  greatest  generals  that  ever 
lived.” 


HIS  CHICAGO  FKIENDS. 

MANY  VIEWS  OF  HIS  KEMAEKABLE  EXCELLENCES — 
BUT  ONE  VOICE  OF  PEAISE. 

The  number  of  old  soldiers  in  Chicago  who  served 
under  Sheridan  in  the  days  when  he  made  his 
brilliant  record  is  comparatively  few.  Sheridan’s 
soldiers,  with  a  few  exceptions,  were  recruited  from 
Hew  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  other  east¬ 
ern  States.  Among  those  now  residing  in  Chicago 
who  saw  service  by  the  side  of  “ Little  Phil”  is 
General  A.  C.  McClurg,  who  served  as  assistant 
adjutant  of  the  Twenty-second  Army  corps  under 
General  McCook. 

General  McClurg  said  :  “  If  asked  what  seemed 

to  constitute  his  distinguishing  characteristic  I 
should  say  that  it  was  his  faculty  of  always  hold¬ 
ing  himself  in  readiness  for  action.  And  yet  he 
would  impress  a  new  comer  as  being  precisely  the 
opposite.  He  looked  anything  but  a  hard-working 
officer.  He  always  acted  as  if  he  was  a  man  with 
plenty  of  leisure,  without  any  of  the  cares  and  re¬ 
sponsibilities  of  life  to  mar  his  serenity.  The  fact 


106 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


was  that  he  always  knew  the  exact  situation,  down 
to  the  finest  detail.  He  had  the  faculty  of  doing 
everything  through  his  subordinates,  and  had  then? 
in  hand  so  well  that  mistakes  never  happened.’ ’ 

“I  first  met  Sheridan,”  said  General  L.  P.  Brad* 
ley,  “in  the  country  around  Nashville.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  painstaking  commanders  I  ever 
knew.  He  never  risked  a  life  unless  the  risk  was 
absolutely  necessary.  In  war  his  foresight  was  won¬ 
derful.  Great  good  sense  was  his  distinguishing 
characteristic.  He  was  always  occupied  in  caring 
for  his  troops,  and  to  this  care  he  owed  the  effi- 
ciency  of  his  command. 

“I  remember,  at  a  dinner  which  was  given  to  him 
by  the  Loyal  Legion  on  March  6,  1882,  how  he 
then  said :  ‘  People  think  I  am  rash  and  reckless. 

I  say  that  there  never  was  an  officer  more  prudent 
than  I.  I  encamped  my  men  well,  watched  their 
rations  and  comforts,  and  when  we  fought  the 
enemy  I  gave  them  the  confidence  of  victory  from 
my  knowledge  of  the  enemy  and  my  confidence  in 
the  men.’  I  indorse  every  word  of  what  he  said 
then.  Such  was  Sheridan  in  war.” 

Alexander  E.  Stevenson  was  Inspector-General  on 
General  Sheridan’s  staff  from  December,  1862,  till 
November,  1863.  His  position  enabled  him  to  ob¬ 
serve  closely  the  methods  of  Sheridan  during  two 
of  the  most  critical  periods  of  his  military  career, 
the  battles  of  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga. 

u  General  Sheridan’ s  foresight  and  extraordinary 
energy  were  what  made  him  great  as  a  commander,” 
said  General  Stevenson.  I  don’t  suppose  there  ever 
was  a  general  with  greater  power  of  electrifying 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SIIEKIDAN. 


107 


his  men.  In  camp  lie  was  a  most  modest  man, 
quiet,  unassuming,  and  easy  of  approach.  But  let 
something  go  wrong  when  his  division  was  moving, 
and  the  contrast  was  astonishing.  Profanity  was 
the  climax  of  Sheridan’s  enthusiasm  in  great  crises, 
and  it  always  carried  its  point.  His  men  became 
like  himself,  irresistible.  Their  remarkable  affec¬ 
tion  for  him  is  proof  that  he  never  was  brutal.” 

Among  his  old  Chicago  friends  “  Little  Phil  ”  is 
membered  as  one  of  the  worst  presiding  officers 
ever  seen  in  a  deliberative  body.  This  was  a  rare 
tribute  to  the  man’s  modesty.  He  was  so  shy,  re¬ 
tiring  and  modest  that  the  faces  of  those  who  knew 
him  well  were  enough  to  put  him  out  and  embarrass 
him  greatly. 

General  Sheridan  loved  to  see  a  close  finish  on 
the  turf.  He  attended  every  meeting  at  Wash¬ 
ington  Park  except  the  last  one,  and  was  always 
present  on  Derby  day.  He  liked  to  go  into  the 
judges’  stand,  and  on  several  occasions  he  acted  as 
a  judge  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  everybody.  He 
was  president  of  the  Washington  Park  Club. 


HOW  THE  GREAT  SOLDIER  FOUGHT  THE 
BATTLE  OF  FIVE  FORKS. 

The  crowning  point  in  Sheridan’s  brilliant  mili- 
taiy  career  was  the  battle  of  Five  Forks.  There  his 
signal  victory  forced  the  retreat  of  Lee  and  his  army 
from  their  intrenched  positions  around  Richmond 
and  Petersburg,  and  was  followed  by  the  surrender 
of  Appomattox  and  the  end  of  the  civil  war. 


103 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


Five  Forks  was  a  position  on  the  extreme  right  of 
Lee’s  defensive  line,  and  somewhat  detached  from 
it.  Its  strategic  value  was  incalculable  in  impor¬ 
tance,  since  the  loss  of  it  would  at  once  leave  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  open  to  attack  ux>on 
its  lines  of  communication  ;  and  thus  the  precipi 
tate  retreat  of  that  army  from  its  strongly  fortified 
places  would  become  unavoidable.  The  spot  takes 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  point  where  the 
Dinwiddie,  Scott’s,  the  White  Oak,  Ford’s  Church, 
and  another  road  concentrate.  It  had  been  occu¬ 
pied  by  Pickett’s  infantry  and  all  the  cavalry  of 
Lee’s  army.  While  it  was  indispensable  to  Lee,  it 
had  already  been  recognized  by  Grant  as  of  equal 
importance  to  him  in  his  offensive  movements  then 
to  begin. 

It  was  on  March  29,  1865,  after  an  extended  in¬ 
terview  at  City  Point  with  President  Lincoln,  that 
Gen.  Grant  moved  his  headquarters  to  the  centre  of 
his  line  in  front  of  Petersburg.  His  forces  were  at 
this  time  disposed  as  follows,  from  right  to  left : 
Weitzel  in  front  of  Richmond,  north  of  the  James 
River ;  Parke  and  Wright  holding  the  works  in 
front  of  Petersburg ;  Ord  extending  south  to  the 
intersection  of  the  Vaughn  road  and  Hatcher’ s  Hun  ; 
Humphrey’s  left  reaching  beyond  Dabney’s  saw¬ 
mill  ;  Warren  on  the  extreme  left,  and  covering  the 
front  as  far  as  the  intersection  of  the  Vaughn  road 
and  the  Boydton  plank  road ;  while  Sheridan,  with 
the  whole  cavalry  corps,  was  at  Dinwiddie  Court 
House.  The  weather  was  very  cloudy,  and  as  the 
day  drew  to  a  close  rain  began  to  fall.  During  that 
night  and  the  next  day  the  storm  continued  with 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


109 


but  little  interruption.  The  ground  was  soft,  and 
the  rain  soon  soaked  it  into  greater  softness,  so  that 
by  the  evening  of  the  30th  the  whole  country  be¬ 
came,  as  it  were,  one  vast  bed  of  mushy  quicksand, 
in  which  the  horses  of  the  cavalry  and  artillery 
sank  almost  to  their  bellies. 

This  condition  was,  in  a  measure,  favorable  to  the 
Confederates,  as  it  enabled  them  to  secure  more 
time  to  complete  all  their  preparations  to  receive  an 
attack  which  was  inevitable,  and,  therefore,  the 
more  successfully  to  resist  it.  The  roads  had  be¬ 
come  streams  of  water,  and  it  was  with  extreme 
difficulty  that  the  artillery  and  trains  of  Grant’s 
forces  could  move  upon  them.  It  was  this  situation 
of  the  roads  that  had  prevented  Gen.  Grant  from 
sending  a  corps  of  infantry  to  reinforce  Sheridan  on 
the  30th,  and  when  the  latter  rode  into  Grant’s 
headquarters  on  the  morning  of  that  day  he  so  in¬ 
formed  him. 

From  the  inception  of  the  movement,  Sheridan 
understood  its  importance  as  bearing  on  the  ter¬ 
mination  of  the  war,  and  gave  no  thought  to  him¬ 
self.  No  hardship  or  effort  was  too  great  for  him 
to  undergo.  He  was  here,  there,  and  everywhere 
about  the  held  of  the  coming  battle,  his  keen  mili¬ 
tary  eye  and  sound  judgment  ever  on  the  alert. 
Gen.  Grant  told  him  at  the  interview  in  his  tent 
that  he  wished  him  to  feel  the  enemy’s  strength 
next  day,  and,  if  possible,  to  seize  Five  Forks.  As 
the  two  generals  sat  together  the  rain  continued  to 
pour  in  torrents.  u  General,”  said  Sheridan  as  he 
rose  to  go,  “I  will  execute  your  plans  tomorrow 


110 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


though  the  elements  and  all  the  powers  of  the  Con¬ 
federacy  stand  in  the  way.” 

The  weather  continued  cloudy  and  rainy  on  the 
31st,  and  Sheridan  reported  to  Grant  that  the  Con¬ 
federates  had  been  busily  engaged  intrenching  at 
Five  Forks  and  to  the  west  of  that  point  for  the 
distance  of  a  mile  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  a  deter¬ 
mined  effort  would  be  made  there  by  Lee  to  pro¬ 
tect  his  right  ffank.  Gen.  Grant,  anticipating  an 
attack  upon  his  left,  held  by  Warren,  had  cau¬ 
tioned  the  latter  to  be  on  his  guard  against  it.  An 
advance  of  the  Fifth  Corps  on  the  White  Oak  road 
developed  a  strong  force  occupying  it,  and  before 
going  very  far  this  corps  met  with  a  determined  and 
vigorous  resistance  which  brought  it  to  a  halt.  The 
fighting  which  ensued  was  fast  and  furious,  and 
reflected  great  credit  on  the  contending  troops. 
Gen.  Warren  distinguished  himself  by  his  coolness 
and  gallantry,  and  evinced  in  many  ways  those  fine 
soldierly  qualities  of  which  he  was  undoubtedly 
possessed.  In  the  mean  time  Sheridan,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  his  instructions  of  the  day  before,  had 
moved  upon  Five  Forks,  and  had  encountered  a  lit¬ 
tle  north  of  Dinwiddie  Court  House  a  strong  force 
of  infantry  and  cavalry.  This  day,  Sheridan  has 
often  said  jocularly,  was  the  liveliest  day  of  his  life, 
as  he  had  to  fight  infantry  and  cavalry  with  cavalry 
alone. 

The  conditions  of  the  problem  did  not,  however, 
daunt  his  intrepid  spirit.  Sheridan  never  seemed 
so  well  pleased  as  when  fighting  under  difficulties. 
His  martial  faculties  then  had  full  play,  and  he 
revelled  in  the  task  of  surmounting  and  overcoming 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


Ill 

the  odds  against  him.  On  this  occasion  he  hurled 
his  cavalry  against  the  Confederate  infantry,  with 
undaunted  heart,  and  when  confronted  at  impor¬ 
tant  points  by  the  enemy’s  cavalry,  equally  as  in¬ 
trepid  as  his  own,  he  met  it  with  an  onset  that  was 
almost  invincible.  He  informed  a  staff  officer  of 
Grant’s  who  had  been  sent  to  observe  his  move¬ 
ments,  that  he  was  concentrating  his  forces  on  the 
high  ground  just  north  of  Dinwiddle,  and  that  he 
would  hold  that  position.  At  the  same  time  he 
requested  the  staff  officer  to  go  to  Gen.  Grant  and 
urge  him  to  send  up  the  Sixth  Army  Corps.  He 
specified  this  corps  because  it  had  been  with  him  in 
the  Shenandoah  Yalley  and  understood  his  meth¬ 
ods  of  fighting.  He  was  informed  that  the  position 
occupied  by  the  Sixth  Corps  precluded  its  being 
sent  to  his  assistance,  but  that  the  Fifth  Corps 
would  reach  him  by  daylight  the  next  morning. 
This  was  a  busy  night.  Staff  officers  were  rushing 
about  all  night,  carrying  orders  from  one  head¬ 
quarters  to  another,  getting  information,  and  hur¬ 
rying  up  the  movements  of  the  troops  that  were  to 
take  part  in  this  supreme  effort  to  destroy  Lee’s 
army  and  bring  the  long  war  to  a  close. 

Gen.  Warren,  who  had  accompanied  Crawford’s 
division  of  his  corps,  reached  and  reported  in  per¬ 
son  to  Sheridan  at  11  a.m.  In  less  than  one  hour 
afterward  Gen.  Babcock  of  Grant’s  staff  arrived 
and  said  to  Sheridan  :  “  Gen.  Grant  directs  me  to 

say  to  you  that  if  in  your  judgment  the  Fifth  Corps 
would  do  better  under  one  of  the  division  com¬ 
manders,  you  are  authorized  to  relieve  Gen.  War¬ 
ren,  and  order  him  to  report  to  him  (Grant)  at 


112 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


headquarters.  ”  The  reason  was  nothing  more  than 
a  belief,  prevailing  at  Grant’s  headquarters,  that 
Warren  was  not  sufficiently  energetic  and  aggres¬ 
sive.  It  was  most  unjust  to  Warren,  who  had  sig¬ 
nalized  his  loyalty,  his  courage,  and  his  ability  on 
the  Gettysburg  battlefield.  Sheridan’s  only  reply 
to  Babcock,  when  he  received  this  order,  was  that 
he  hoped  such  a  step  would  not  become  neces¬ 
sary. 

The  Confederate  earthworks  ran  along  the  White 
Oak  road,  and  were  something  over  a  mile  and  a 
half  in  length,  with  a  southerly  line  at  right  angles 
with  the  main  line,  extending  about  three  hundred 
yards  from  it.  Sheridan  had  dismounted  his  cav¬ 
alry  in  front  of  these  earthworks,  and  had  directed 
Warren  to  attack  the  angle  by  wheeling  to  the 
left,  and  to  sweep  down  by  a  westward  movement 
and  come  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy’s  intrenched 
position.  As  soon  as  the  cavalry  should  hear  the 
firing  of  Warren’s  infantry,  it  was  to  make  a  vigor¬ 
ous  assault  upon  the  Confederate  front.  When  all 
had  been  arranged,  Sheridan  awaited  the  attack  of 
the  Fifth  Corps,  but,  for  some  unexplained  reason, 
the  movement  was  slow,  and  the  formation  for  it 
seemed  to  be  delayed  and  to  drag.  It  was  then 
that  the  ardent  nature  of  this  consummate  soldier 
became  impatient,  aiid  he  appeared  to  be  consumed 
with  anxiety.  Those  who  have  been  led  by  his¬ 
torians  to  believe  that  Sheridan  was  of  a  rash,  im¬ 
petuous  nature — a  man  governed  wholly  by  his 
impulses — have  been  misinformed.  The  truth  is 
that  he  was  impetuous  only  where  impetuosity  was 
needed.  He  was  never  rash  in  any  military  move- 


BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG. 


* 


A 


■ 


i 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEBIDAK. 


113 


men!.  He  felt  tlie  importance  of  prompt  action  at 
this  stage  of  the  battle,  and  in  every  possible  way 
appealed  for  it  ;  he  dismounted  from  his  horse  and 
walked  to  and  fro,  with  knit  brow  and  troubled 
mien  ;  he  seemed  overwhelmed  by  the  tardiness  of 
his  subordinates.  He  understood  the  consequences 
of  delays  in  their  bearing  on  the  fate  of  armies,  and 
he  knew  how  dangerous  they  are.  No  wonder, 
then,  that  on  this  occasion  he  was  so  deeply 
troubled. 

It  was  not  until  4  o’clock  that  the  troops  got  into 
position  and  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the 
assault  on  Pickett’s  line.  When  a  staff  officer  rode 
up  to  Sheridan  to  report  the  position  of  the  com¬ 
mand,  he  found  him  standing  with  one  arm  thrown 
across  his  saddle,  in  no  pleasant  frame  of  mind. 
“  Everything  is  ready,  you  say?”  answered  Sheri¬ 
dan  eagerly.  u  Thank  God  !  It  may  be  too  late  ! 
Order  them  forward  at  once,  and  wre’ll  take  our 
chances  and  win,  come  what  may.”  Saying  this, 
he  sprang  into  the  saddle. 

Very  soon  after  the  men  of  Ayres’s  division  en¬ 
countered  a  heavy  fire  on  their  left  and  were  forced 
to  change  their  course  to  a  more  westward  direc¬ 
tion.  Moving  rapidly  forward  through  a  dense 
wood  and  over  the  soft  boggy  ground,  they  re¬ 
ceived  a  severe  shock  from  the  angle,  and  fell  back 
in  great  confusion.  This  was  the  moment  when 
Sheridan  rose  to  the  full  significance  of  the  situa¬ 
tion.  Dashing  into  the  midst  of  the  broken  and 
dismayed  lines,  he  cried  out :  ‘ 4  Where  is  my  battle 
flag  1  ”  Seizing  the  staff,  he  wrenched  it  from  the 
hand  of  the  sergeant  who  carried  it,  and  waving  the 


114 


LIFE  OF  GEX.  SHEEIDAN. 


crimson  and  white  standard  above  his  head  he 
cheered  and  encouraged  the  men.  The  whizzing  of 
bullets  and  bursting  of  shells  was  terrific.  The 
battle  flag  was  riddled  ;  the  sergeant  who  had  borne 
it  was  killed  ;  staff  officers  were  wounded,  and 
many  horses  were  knocked  down.  Nothing  daunt¬ 
ed  by  this  leaden  storm,  Sheridan  galloped  from 
point  to  point  of  the  line,  waving  his  standard, 
threatening,  exhorting,  swearing,  beseeching  the 
men  to  stand  firm  and  hurl  back  the  foe.  He  was 
the  very  impersonation  of  courage  ;  the  incarnation 
of  battle.  His  example  was  infectious.  Ayres  and 
his  officers  shared  with  him  the  exposure  and  the 
effort.  The  veterans  of  the  ranks  soon  reformed 
their  lines,  and  with  wild  cheers  rushed  forward 
and  carried  the  earthworks.  Sweeping  the  way 
clear  before  them,  they  killed,  captured,  or  put  to 
flight  every  man  in  their  way.  That  day  Sheridan 
rode  Hienzi,  the  gallant  horse  that  had  been  pre¬ 
sented  to  him  by  the  people  of  Michigan.  Arriving 
near  the  angle,  Sheridan  spurred  him  on,  and  with 
a  bound  he  landed  his  rider  again  in  the  midst  of 
victory  and  a  long  line  of  prisoners,  who,  having 
thrown  down  their  arms,  were  seeking  safety  behind 
their  breastworks.  Gen.  Horace  Porter,  who  was 
present,  states  that  ‘  ‘  some  of  these  prisoners  called 
out :  4  Whar  do  you  want  us  all  to  go  %  ’  Then 
Sheridan’s  rage  turned  to  humor,  and  he  had  a 
running  talk  with  the  Johnnies  as  they  filed  past : 
‘Go  right  over  there,’  he  cried,  pointing  to  the 
rear,  ‘get  right  along  now.  Drop  your  guns,  you’ll 
never  need  them  any  more.  You’ll  be  safe  over 
there.  Are  there  any  more  of  you  ?  We  wrant 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  115 

every  one  of  you  fellows.’  ”  Nearly  1500  were 
captured  at  the  angle. 

While  these  decisive  movements  were  taking 
place  on  the  right,  the  cavalry  in  front,  under  Mer¬ 
ritt,  Custer,  and  Devin,  had  gallantly  gone  over  the 
earthworks,  and,  promptly  carrying  out  Sheridan’s 
order,  had  captured  a  battery  of  artillery,  many 
prisoners,  a*id  swept  away  everything  that  opposed 
them  in  their  terrible  outslaught.  After  the  seizure 
of  the  angle,  Gen.  Sheridan  made  his  way  to  the 
westward  of  the  Fort  road,  and  here  again  threw  all 
the  energy  of  his  nature  into  the  effort  to  destroy 
finally  the  forces  of  Pickett.  He  relieved  Warren 
of  his  command  and  placed  Griffin  in  the  head  of 
the  Fifth  Corps,  and  expecting  that  Lee  would  at¬ 
tack  him  on  the  following  morning  with  fresh 
troops,  he  busily  engaged  in  collecting  together  his 
detached  commands  and  strengthening  his  posi¬ 
tion. 

As  Gen.  Horace  Porter,  who  witnessed  the  strug¬ 
gle  in  all  its  details,  says  :  u  Sheridan  had  that  day 
fought  one  of  the  most  interesting  technical  battles 
of  the  war,  almost  perfect  in  conception,  brilliant  in 
execution,  strikingly  dramatic  in  its  incidents,  and 
productive  of  immensely  important  results.”  The 
immediate  effect  was  to  determine  Grant  to  order 
an  advance  along  his  entire  front  on  the  following 
day.  Lee,  recognizing  the  extent  of  the  disaster, 
was  forced  to  call  Longstreet  to  the  south  side  of 
the  James,  and  to  make  dispositions  for  the  retreat 
of  his  shattered  and  demoralized  troops.  The  suc¬ 
cessful  assault  of  Grant’ s  columns  on  the  following 
day,  the  desperate  resistance  of  Lee,  and  the  retreat 


116 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


and  final  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir¬ 
ginia  at  Appomattox,  were  the  legitimate  outcome 

of  this  marvellous  victory  of  Sheridan  at  Five 
Forks. 


ME.  PLUMB’S  REMINISCENCE  OF  THE  GEN¬ 
ERAL. 

Senator  Plumb  said  :  “I always  think  of  Sheri¬ 
dan  in  connection  with  one  conversation  I  had  with 
him. 

44  4  General,’  said  I,  4  you  were  in  the  West  before 
you  came  East.  What  was  your  opinion  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  ?  You  remember  it  was 
criticised  about  that  time  as  not  doing  its  share  of 
the  work.  ’ 

4  4  4  Oh,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  all  right,’ 
said  Sheridan.  4  The  trouble  was  the  commanders 
never  went  out  to  lick  anybody,  but  always  thought 
first  of  keeping  from  getting  licked.’ 

44  Sheridan  came  East  when  the  cavalry  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  was  not  in  good  condition, 
and  Grant  gave  him  the  task  of  reorganizing  it  and 
raising  its  efficiency.  He  had  worked  away  some 
time  when  Meade  sent  him  over  the  Rappahannock 
on  a  reconn oissance.  Sheridan  came  back  and  in 
making  his  verbal  report  referred  to  a  brush  he  had 
with  Stuart’s  cavalry. 

44  ‘Never  mind  Stuart,’  said  Meade,  interrupting, 
4  he  will  do  about  as  he  pleases  anyhow.  Go  on  and 
tell  me  what  you  discovered  about  Lee’s  forces.’ 

44Tliat  made  Sheridan  mad,  and  lie  retorted :  4 1 
can  thrash  Stuart  any  day.’ 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


117 


Meade  repeated  the  remark  to  Grant,  who  quer¬ 
ied  :  ‘  Why  didn’ t  you  tell  him  to  do  it  ?  ’ 

“  Not  long  after,  sure  enough,  Sheridan  got  an 
order  to  cross  the  river,  engage  Stuart,  and  clean 
him  out. 

“  ‘I  knew  I  could  whip  him,’  said  Sheridan,  ‘if 
I  could  only  get  him  where  he  could  not  fall  back 
on  Lee’s  infantry.  So  I  thought  the  matter  over, 
and  to  draw  him  on  started  straight  for  Eichmond. 
We  moved  fast,  and  Stuart  dogged  us  right  at  our 
heels.  We  kept  on  a  second  day  straight  for 
Eichmond,  and  the  next  morning  found  Stuart  in 
front  of  us  just  where  we  wanted  him.  He  had 
marched  all  night  and  got  around  us.  Then  I  rode 
him  down.  I  mashed  his  command  and  broke  up 
his  divisions  and  regiments  and  brigades,  and  the 
poor  fellow  himself  was  killed  there.  Eight  there, 
Senator,  I  resisted  the  greatest  temptation  of  my 
life.  There  lay  Eichmond  before  us,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  keep  us  from  going  in.  It  would  have 
cost  five  or  six  hundred  lives,  and  I  could  not  have 
held  the  place,  of  course.  But  I  knew  that  the 
moment  it  was  learned  at  the  North  that  a  Union 
army  was  in  Eichmond,  then  every  bell  would  ring, 
and  I  should  have  been  the  hero  of  the  hour.  I 
could  have  gone  in  and  burned  and  killed  right  and 
left.  But  I  had  learned  this  thing — that  our  men 
knew  what  they  were  about.  I  had  seen  them  come 
out  of  d  fight  in  which  only  a  handful  were  killed, 
discontented,  mad  clear  through,  because  they 
knew  an  opportunity  had  been  lost,  or  a  sacrifice, 
small  as  it  was,  had  been  needlessly  made  ;  and  I 
had  seen  them  come  out  good-natured,  enthusiastic, 


118 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


and  spoiling  for  more,  when  they  had  left  the  ground 
so  thickly  covered  with  dead  that  you  could  have 
crossed  it  on  the  bodies  alone.  They  realized  that, 
notwithstanding  the  terrible  sacrifice,  the  object 
gained  had  been  worth  it.  They  would  have  fol¬ 
lowed  me,  but  they  would  have  known  as  well  as  I 
that  the  sacrifice  was  for  no  permanent  advantage.’ 

“That,”  continued  Senator  Plumb,  “exhibits 
the  man  and  the  commander.  He  aimed  to  win  and 
keep  the  confidence  of  his  men,  and  he  did  it.  He 
fought  for  results  and  not  for  glory.” 

A  companion  in  arms  relates  the  following  : 

After  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  President  Lin¬ 
coln  and  Secretary  Stanton  agreed  that  Sheridan 
should  receive  some  special  recognition  for  the  great 
exploit.  They  promoted  him  to  be  a  Major-General 
in  the  regular  army,  and  when  the  commission  was 
made  out  the  President  decided  that  it  should  be 
sent  to  the  General,  who  still  lay  near  Cedar  Creek, 
by  an  unusual  messenger.  I  was  selected  for  this 
agreeable  duty. 

From  Washington  to  Harper’s  Ferry  I  went  by 
rail,  bnt  there  it  was  necessary  to  have  an  escort. 
Starting  early  in  the  morning  and  riding  all  day 
with  no  other  interruptions  than  were  caused  by  the 
occasional  appearance  of  Mosby’s  cavalry  here  and 
there  on  our  flank,  it  was  about  ten  at  night  before 
we  reached  the  General’s  stopping-place.  He  had 
gone  to  bed,  but  was  waked  up  to  receive  the  im¬ 
portant  document.  The  speeches  on  the  occasion 
w^ere  brief,  but  they  were  to  the  purpose.  Sheridan 
was  not  displeased  with  the  transaction. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


119 


The  next  morning  the  General  took  me  on  foot 
through  his  camp,  and  as  we  went  among  the  regi¬ 
ments  and  brigades,  and  greeted  old  acquaintances 
on  every  hand,  I  was  everywhere  struck  with  the 
manifestations  of  personal  attachment  to  Sheridan. 
I  had  not  seen  anything  like  it  in  either  of  our  great 
armies.  Grant,  Sherman,  Thomas,  all  moved  among 
their  troops  with  every  sign  of  respect  and  con- 
lidence  on  the  part  of  the  men  ;  but  in  Sheridan’s 
camp  it  was  quite  different.  They  seemed  to  regard 
him  more  as  a  boy  regards  the  father  he  believes  in, 
relies  on,  and  loves,  than  as  soldiers  are  wont  to  re¬ 
gard  their  commander.  Finally,  as  we  were  com¬ 
pleting  our  morning’s  tour  and  had  got  nearly  back 
to  headquarters,  I  said  to  him  :  “  General,  how  is 
this  %  These  men  seem  to  have  a  special  affection 
for  you,  more  than  I  have  ever  seen  displayed  to¬ 
ward  any  other  officer.  What  is  the  reason  ?  ” 

‘  ‘  W ell,  ’  ’  said  he,  ‘  4  I  think  I  can  tell  you.  I 
always  fight  the  front  rank  myself.  I  was  long  ago 
convinced  that  it  would  not  do  for  a  commanding 
general  to  stay  in  the  rear  of  the  troops  and  carry 
on  a  battle  with  paper  orders,  as  they  do  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  These  men  all  know  that 
where  it  is  hottest,  there  I  am,  and  they  like  it,  and 
that  is  the  reason  they  like  me.” 


THE  GENERAL’ S  LONGEST  SPEECH. 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  VETERANS  THAT  WENT  TO  THEIR 

HEARTS. 

The  longest  speech  ever  delivered  by  General 
Sheridan  was  made  at  the  Creston  reunion  of  the 


120 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEEIDAN. 


veterans  of  Southwest  Iowa  and  Northwest  Mis¬ 
souri.  There  were  at  least  ten  thousand  veterans 
present,  in  addition  to  thousands  of  other  persons. 
The  enthusiasm  for  Sheridan  was  overwhelming, 
and  contrary  to  custom  he  had  at  last  yielded  to  the 
importunities  of  the  veterans  and  made  a  speech 
that  went  direct  to  every  old  soldier’s  heart.  It  was 
wholly  impromptu  and  characteristic,  and  was  as 
follows: 

“Comrades  : — I  came  here  to-day  to  see  you  and 
talk  with  you  and  shake  hands  with  you,  while  Colo¬ 
nel  Carr  and  others,  you  know,  came  here  to  make 
eloquent  addresses  for  you  to  listen  to.  I  think  he 
has  been  too  eulogistic  of  me  in  his  remarks.  It  is 
true  that  I  fought  in  almost  everybody’s  army  from 
Pea  Ridge  to  Apx>omattox,  and  although  I  fought 
with  cavalry  and  infantry  and  on  every  line  of  opera¬ 
tion,  and  always  had  to  change  and  take  new  men 
on  new  lines,  I  was  very  successful.  I  went  through 
all  the  grades  they  had  in  the  volunteer  service,  and 
then  I  commenced  and  went  through  all  the  grades 
in  the  regular  service,  and  the  date  of  every  commis¬ 
sion  that  I  have  is  the  date  of  a  battle. 

“  Now  I  want  to  say  to  you,  comrades,  that  I  am  in¬ 
debted  to  the  private  in  the  ranks  for  all  this  credit 
that  has  come  to  me.  [Applause,  long  and  con¬ 
tinued.]  He  was  the  man  who  did  the  fighting,  and 
the  man  who  carried  the  musket  is  the  greatest  hero 
of  the  war  in  my  opinion.  I  was  nothing  but  an 
agent ;  I  knew  how  to  take  care  of  men.  I  knew 
what  a  soldier  was  worth,  and  I  knew  how  to  study 
the  country  so  as  to  put  him  in  right  ;  I  knew  how 
to  put  him  in  a  battle  when  one  occurred,  but  I  was 


BATTLE  OF  CHAPIN'S  FARM. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


121 


simply  the  agent  to  take  care  of  him,  and  he  did  the 
work.  Now,  comrades,  these  are  common-sense 
things,  and  I  can’t  say  them  in  very  flowery  lan¬ 
guage,  but  they  are  true,  nevertheless,  and  they  are 
true  not  of  me  alone,  but  of  everybody  else.  It  is 
to  the  common  soldier  that  we  are  indebted  for  any 
credit  to  us. 

“  Now,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here  to-day,  gentle¬ 
men,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  on  his  occasion. 
There  are  many  men  here  to-day  who  served  in  the 
field  with  me,  and  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to 
find  them  out,  and  they  have  been  very  kindly  in 
their  remarks  to  me.  While  they  were  with  me  I 
certainly  did  all  I  could  for  them.  I  often  lay 
‘  awake  planning  for  their  welfare,  and  I  never  killed 
a  man  unnecessarily.  One  great  trouble  with  men 
who  command  troops  is  that  they  kill  men  unneces¬ 
sarily.  You  may  kill  as  many  men  as  you  choose 
if  you  give  them  an  equivalent  for  the  loss  Men 
do  not  like  to  be  killed  for  nothing ;  they  do  not 
like  to  have  their  heads  rammed  against  a  stone  wall 
unless  for  some  good  results.  These  are  points  I 
made  during  the  war.  Whenever  I  took  men  into 
a  battle  I  gave  them  victory  as  the  result  of  the 
engagement,  and  that  was  always  satisfactory.  ” 


GEN.  SHERIDAN  WAS  LASSOED. 

According  to  Col.  Archer  Mason,  Gen.  Sheridan 
once  had  his  life  saved  in  an  odd  way.  Col.  Mason’s 
regiment  was  once  giving  the  General  a  reception 
at  the  California  Theatre.  Sheridan  was  standing 


122 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


in  the  wings,  peeping  out  beside  the  curtain  at  the 
audience,  when  he  suddenly  pointed  to  one  of  the 
musicians,  and  asked  Mason  : 

“  Isn’t  that  man  named  Blyth  1  ” 

On  being  told  that  he  was,  he  asked  to  have  him 
brought  up  on  the  stage  at  once.  After  a  cordial 
greeting,  which  almost  wrung  the  musician’ s  hand 
off,  Sheridan  said  : 

“I  have  good  reason  to  remember  Mr.  Blyth,  for 
he  saved  my  life  for  me  once.  It  was  when  I  was  a 
young  cavalry  officer,  fighting  the  Indians.  Blyth 
was  a  private  in  my  troop.  One  day  we  were  hav¬ 
ing  a  hand-to-ha'nd  set-to  with  the  Indians,  and  one 
of  the  red  devils  had  just  shot  at  me  with  a  revolver. 
I  had  my  sabre  very  close  to  his  neck  when  another 
Indian  threw  his  lasso  around  my  neck,  and  in 
another  instance  I  would  have  been  trampled  under 
the  feet  of  the  horses.  But  Blyth,  who  was  close 
beside  me,  cut  the  rope  with  his  sabre  and  saved  my 
life.” 


SHERIDAN’S  FIRST  VICTORY. 

In  Whitelaw  Reid’s  “Ohio  in  the  War”  there 
are  several  good  stories  about  Sheridan’s  boyhood. 
One  how  he  pluckily  stuck  on  a  vicious  horse  when 
only  five  years  of  age,  and  rode  it  after  excellent 
horsemen  had  failed. 

This  was  Sheridan’s  first  victory. 

Another  time  Patrick  McNanly,  Sheridan’ s  school 
teacher  at  Somerset,  tried  to  punish  Phil  because 
some  boy  had  thrown  a  bucket  of  water  over  him. 


LIEE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


123 


Phil  ran  home,  the  teacher  chasing  him  until  Phil’ s 
dog  Rover  treed  the  teacher  and  kept  him  there. 
McNanly  begged  Phil  to  call  off  the  dog,  for  it  was 
bitter  cold,  but  the  boy  would  not.  Mr.  Sheridan 
came  out,  and  as  Phil  said  he  had  not  thrown  any 
water,  the  dog  was  not  called  off  until  the  teacher 
had  promised  not  to  4  4  lick  ’  ’  Phil. 

This  was  the  first  surrender  to  Sheridan. 

A  good  sample  of  the  way  Sheridan  had  of  dealing 
with  refractory  4  4  natives  ’  ’  during  the  war  is  told  by 
Colonel  JNewhall.  It  occurred  at  Prince  Edward’s 
Court  House.  A  Southern  farmer  was  asked  if  he 
had  seen  any  of  Lee’s  troops  about  that  day.  He 
growled  out  that  he  could  give  no  information. 

44  How  far  is  it  to  Buffalo  River  ?  ” 

44  Sir,  I  don’t  know.” 

4  4  The  devil  you  don’ t !  How  long  have  you  lived 
here  ?” 

44  All  my  life.” 

44  Very  well,  sir,  it  is  time  you  did  know.  Cap¬ 
tain,  put  this  gentleman  in  charge  of  a  guard,  and 
when  we  move  walk  him  down  to  Buffalo  River  and 
show  it  to  him.” 

That  evening  4 4 this  gentleman”  tramped  five 
miles  away  from  home  to  look  at  a  river  which  was 
as  familiar  to  him  as  his  own  family. 


124 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


PERSONAL  JOTTINGS. 

A  gentleman  who  knew  Sheridan  well  in  his 
fighting  days  gives  the  following  pen-picture  of 
him : 

“  Sheridan  looks  the  fighter  in  every  one  of  his 
scant  inches,  in  every  fiber  of  his  sturdy  frame,  and 
every  feature  of  his  florid  face  and  compact,  power¬ 
ful  looking  head.  Yet  there  was  more  than  the  mere 
fighter  look.  The  head  and  face  wear  an  unmis¬ 
takable  expression  of  intellectual  vigor.  Sheridan 
looks  like  a  ruler  of  men  :  like  the  man  who  could, 
as  he  did,  make  a  scattered  army  cohere  into  a 
victorious  phalanx  and  throw  it  like  an  avalanche 
on  a  flying  foe.  He  is  not  more  than  five  feet  six 
inches  in  height,  while  the  breadth  of  his  shoulders 
and  the  depth  of  his  chest  are  very  great.  His 
hands  and  feet  are  small.  The  light  ivory-handled 
riding- whip,  which  is  Sheridan’s  inseparable  com¬ 
panion,  was  in  his  hand.  Sheridan’s  face  is  unmis¬ 
takably  Irish  in  expression.  It  is  slightly  oval  in 
outline,  well  knit  and  compact  in  feature.  The 
lower  jaw  is  long  and  powerful,  coming  down  on 
each  side  to  a  square,  firm  chin.  The  mouth, 
draped  by  a  mustache  of  moderate  size,  is  a  strong, 
straight  and  rather  mobile  feature.  The  nose  is  one 
of  the  fighting  sort,  small  at  the  root,  wide  at  the 
nostrils  and  rather  aquiline  in  form.  The  head  of 
‘  Cavalry  Sheridan  ’  is  quite  up  to  his  reputation.  It 
is  long,  moderately  high,  quite  broad,  very  compact, 
with  a  good  back  head  and  base  brain.  The  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  it  is  forward  of  the  ears,  though.  You  see 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


125 


that  this  is  a  man  of  resources,  not  over  confident,  but 
quite  self-possessed,  firm  to  the  last  degree,  with 
convictions  which  once  taken  last  a  lifetime.  Sheri¬ 
dan’s  eyes  are  among  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best, 
features  of  his  remarkable  face.  These  are  of  a 
warm,  gray  hue,  which  soften  with  a  wonderful 
kindness  or  flash  with  a  consuming  fire.  The  wrath 
of  this  man  must  be  terrific,  while  humor  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  much  a  part  of  his  nature.  The 
forehead  is  good,  broad,  not  high,  and  the  percep- 
tives  well  developed  and  the  eyebrows  arched  into 
the  shape  which  is  seen  in  antique  sculpture,  but  so 
seldom  visible  in  modern  countenances. 

“  General  Sheridan  entered  battle  with  a  fixed 
resolve  not  to  come  out  of  it  except  as  a  conqueror, 
and  the  man  who  fights  in  this  spirit  is  the  least 
likely  of  all  men  to  be  injured.  He  fights  with  a 
resolution  to  win  or  die  ;  and  therefore  fights,  as 
the  saying  is,  ‘the  very  darndest  that  is  in  him.’ 
He  will  win — at  least  the  chances  are  ninety-nine  to 
one  in  his  favor — if  the  forces  be  anything  like  equal 
and  the  opposing  commander  not  actuated  by  a 
similar  resolve.  In  the  courage  of  desperation  there 
may  be  found  a  shield  for  its  own  rashness  ;  and  in 
proof  thereof  let  us  cite  the  fact  that  General  Phil 
Sheridan  has  never  received  so  much  as  a  scratch 
during  all  the  battles  in  which  his  personal  daring 
has  been  so  prominent.” 


126 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


MAECH,  CAMP,  AND  FIELD. 

A  WAE  CORRESPONDENT’ S  ESTIMATE  AND  RECOL¬ 
LECTIONS  OF  GENERAL  PHILIP  SHERIDAN. 

General  Sheridan  will  undoubtedly  be  considered 
a  picturesque  figure  by  future  writers  of  American 
history.  Occupying  a  subordinate  position  during 
the  first  year  of  the  civil  war,  he  suddenly  became 
prominent  as  a  dashing  and  successful  cavalry 
officer.  The  opportunity  for  displaying  his  genius 
came  at  last,  and  he  instantly  grasped  it.  In  the 
West  his  fame  was  on  a  par  with  that  of  Sherman, 
Thomas  and  Logan,  and  when  Grant  rose  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-general  and  assumed  the  com¬ 
mand  of  all  the  federal  armies  in  the  field,  he  brought 
Sheridan  with  him  to  the  East  and  assigned  him  to 
the  command  of  the  cavalry  corps  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  It  was  and  always  had  been  the 
largest  body  of  horsemen  on  either  side  of  the 
struggle. 

On  the  Peninsula,  in  1862,  when  McClellan  made 
his  advance  upon  Eichmond,  the  cavalry  were  dis¬ 
tributed  by  divisions  to  the  several  infantry  corps, 
and  though  they  made  many  important  raids  upon 
the  rear  lines  of  the  Confederates,  they  played  no 
important  part  in  the  general  engagements  of  that 
year.  Pleasonton  and  Kilpatrick  and  Dahlgren 
and  Torbert  and  Wilson  were  brave  and  intelligent 
officers,  but  they  did  not  possess  that  rare  faculty 
for  handling  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  horsemen 
which  Sheridan  so  signally  displayed. 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


127 


When  the  cavalry  were  consolidated  by  Hooker 
and  placed  as  a  separate  corps  under  the  command 
of  Pleasonton  their  value  as  an  aggressive  weapon 
was  increased.  At  the  battle  of  Brandy  Plains, 
between  the  Rappahannock  River  and  Culpepper, 
Pleasonton  defeated  and  crippled  Jeb  Stuart,  and 
he  inflicted  great  loss  on  Lee  by  the  destruction  of 
Confederate  ammunition  and  supply  trains  during 
the  second  invasion  of  Pennsylvania.  The  cavalry 
also  took  a  prominent  part  on  the  last  day  of  Get¬ 
tysburg. 

SHERIDAN  AS  A  TACTICIAN. 

But  it  was  reserved  for  Sheridan  to  show  the 
military  student  that  large  masses  of  cavalry  could 
be  as  successfully  handled  in  battles  for  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  mountain  passes  and  amid  dense  forests  as 
they  had  been  in  the  open  field  by  Murat  and  other 
great  European  sabreurs . 

The  services  rendered  by  Sheridan  during  the 
overland  campaign  of  1864  in  forcing  Lee  to  make 
frequent  changes  of  front,  and  his  thorough  protec¬ 
tion  of  Grant’s  flanks  and  lines  of  communication 
were  sufficient  to  give  him  fame.  Still  it  was 
reserved  for  him  to  show  that,  though  a  great 
cavalry  leader,  he  could  handle  with  equal  facility 
large  bodies  of  infantry. 

Twice  had  Lee  successfully  called  “ check!”  on 
the  commanders  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by 
crossing  over  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
though  the  battles  of  Antietam  and  Gettysburg 
greatly  crippled  him,  the  Confederate  leader  had 
for  a  time  relieved  Richmond  from  direct  assault. 
Counting  upon  Washington  bureau  influences  he 


128 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


made  a  third  attempt  in  this  direction  during  1864, 
and  drove  Hunter  out  of  the  Shenandoah  Yalley. 
Instead  of  changing  front  and  releasing  his  grip 
upon  Richmond,  Grant  ordered  Sheridan  to  the 
Yalley  with  12,000  sabers  and  the  Sixth  and  Nine¬ 
teenth  Army  corps,  which,  with  General  Crook’s 
old  Kanawha  corps,  gave  him  a  complete  army. 
The  Shenandoah  campaign  forms  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  episodes  of  the  war,  for  when  his  hand  was 
ready  Sheridan  fought  Jubal  Early  at  Winchester, 
which  doubled  him  up,  and  subsequently  almost 
annihilated  him  at  Cedar  Creek. 

When  the  curtain  was  rung  up  for  the  last  act  in 
this  tremendous  war  Sheridan  came  back  to  Grant’ s 
side  at  Petersburg,  and  he  fought  the  battle  of  Five 
Forks  so  brilliantly  that  it  practically  ended  the 
struggle. 

Briefly  told,  this  is  the  record  of  Sheridan,  and 
it  was  natural  that  he  should  stand  beside  Grant 
and  Sherman  when  a  grateful  people  rewarded  its 
servants. 

IMPULSIVE  BUT  GENEKOUS. 

General  Sheridan  was  one  of  those  impulsive  men 
who  often  create  enemies  without  intent.  To  his 
officers  he  was  stern  and  exacting,  and,  when  ex¬ 
cited,  was  apt  to  be  harsh  and  inconsiderate  in  his 
treatment  of  subordinates.  But  in  his  cooler  mo¬ 
ments  Sheridan  would  make  amends,  his  apologies 
being  all  the  sweeter  because  unexpected,  and  some¬ 
times  not  deserved. 

Courage  and  dash  always  won  Sheridan’s  heart, 
and  he  held  Wilson  and  Torbert  and  Custer,  his 
division  generals,  in  warm  esteem.  After  a  bold 


SURRENDER  OF  LEE, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


129 


movement  his  words  of  praise  came  like  a  hot  tor¬ 
rent  from  his  lips,  causing  the  cheek  of  the  recip¬ 
ient  to  flush  and  glow.  With  his  men,  the  rank 
and  file,  “  Little  Phil,”  as  they  loved  to  call  him, 
was  kind  and  thoughtful.  He  took  especial  pains 
to  see  that  they  were  well  clothed  and  well  fed,  and 
while  in  the  field  he  did  not  recklessly  throw  his 
troops  upon  the  enemy,  but  keeping  his  forces  in 
hand  dealt  terrible  blows.  When  he  put  his  men 
into  battle  he  expected  them  to  fight  and  compelled 
them  to  do  so,  never  hesitating  to  share  their 
dangers  in  leading  them  on  in  person. 

A  CHARACTERISTIC  INCIDENT. 

On  one  occasion  a  brigade  commander  failed  in 
completely  executing  a  movement  in  the  general 
plan  of  an  engagement.  Perceiving  the  error  at  a 
glance,  Sheridan  galloped  over  and  straightened  the 
line,  meanwhile  hurling  angry  words  upon  the  head 
of  the  unfortunate  commander.  Seeing  that  part  of 
the  movement  in  successful  progress,  Sheridan  gal¬ 
loped  away  to  another  part  of  the  field.  The  brig¬ 
ade,  smarting  under  the  reproof  given  their  leader, 
performed  prodigies  of  valor  and  covered  themselves 
with  glory.  The  following  day  Sheridan  rode  over 
to  the  brigade  as  it  stood  under  arms.  Raising  his 
hat  to  the  Brigadier,  he  shouted  : 

“  Men  of  the  Third  brigade  !  To  your  bravery  we 
owe  much  of  the  success  of  yesterday.  As  soldiers, 
I  thank  you  and  your  General,  and  shall  hereafter 
know  that  I  can  always  rely  ux3on  the  old  Third 
brigade.” 

Amid  the  wild  cheers  of  the  men  “  Little  Phil” 


130 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


disapjjeared,  but  there  were  no  more  devoted  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Sheridan  than  this  happy  brigadier 
and  his  gratified  command.  The  incident  had  a 
Napoleonic  touch  about  it  which  reminded  the 
writer  of  McClellan  in  his  best  days. 

SEVERE  BUT  KIND. 

General  Sheridan,  like  all  impulsive  men,  had  an 
extremely  kind  heart.  Stern  in  discipline,  he  was 
merciless  in  treating  military  crimes.  One  day  he 
had  just  ordered  a  group  of  foragers  to  be  severely 
punished,  and  was  riding  down  a  side  road  when  he 
noticed  a  trooper  lying  on  the  grass  under  a  fence. 

“  What’s  the  matter,  my  man?”  he  asked,  rein¬ 
ing  in  his  horse. 

“I  got  wounded  out  on  the  picket  line,  General,” 
replied  the  soldier,  c  ‘  and  am  trying  to  get  to  the 
hospital.” 

“  Slow  work  on  foot,”  remarked  Sheridan. 
“  Where’s  your  horse  %  ” 

u  Killed  under  me  when  I  got  hit,”  was  the  terse 
reply. 

Directing  some  of  his  orderlies  to  dismount  the 
General  saw  the  wounded  man  placed  on  the  saddle 
behind  one  of  them  and  ordered  him  to  convey  his 
charge  to  the  nearest  surgeon.  Many  instances  of 
this  kind  could  be  related. 

HIS  APPEARANCE  IN  BATTLE. 

In  action  Sheridan  was  an  extraordinarv  man. 

«/ 

It  was  his  habit  to  select  a  rising  bit  of  ground, 
which  enabled  him  to  view  the  greater  part  of  his 
lines.  Sitting  there  in  the  saddle,  like  a  carved 
statue,  his  eye  would  watch  everything,  and  if  a 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  131 

critical  moment  occurred  lie  instantly  galloped  to 
the  scene,  and  by  his  presence  restored  confidence 
among  his  men.  It  was  a  grand  sight  to  see  him 
ride  swiftly  along  the  lines  just  before  a  charge 
began,  and  raise  the  enthusiasm  of  his  troops  to 
fever  heat.  Then  his  cheek  glowed  with  excite¬ 
ment,  his  eye  grew  bright  and  there  was  a  magnetic 
influence  about  him  which  extended  itself  to  every 
saber  and  musket  bearer  in  the  ranks.  At  such 
moments  he  seemed  transformed,  and  it  was  no 
wonder  that  his  troops  afterward  moved  with  steadi¬ 
ness  and  determination  into  the  vortex  of  flame  that 
awaited  them. 

At  the  battle  of  Winchester,  when  the  old  Sixth 
corps  crossed  the  field  in  magnificent  array  to 
pierce  Early’s  center  and  so  carry  the  day,  Sheri¬ 
dan  rode  along  their  flanks  and  cried  out : 

“  Men  of  the  Sixth,  our  victory  to-day  depends 
upon  you  !  ” 

These  electrical  words  passed  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  and  animated  by  the  confidence  of  their 
leader  the  men  of  the  Roman  cross  carried  their 
tattered  colors  forward  and  clean  through  the  Con¬ 
federate  center.  Then  Early  was  “sent  whirling 
through  Winchester,”  as  Sheridan  epigrammati- 
cally  expressed  it  in  his  despatches. 

SHERIDAN  AND  WRIGHT. 

At  Cedar  Creek,  when  he  made  his  historic  ride 
from  Winchester,  Sheridan  found  the  lines  reform¬ 
ing  under  Wright  for  another  assault.  Satisfying 
himself  that  the  lines  of  battle  were  correct,  he 
dashed  along  the  front  of  his  army  and  encouraged 


132 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


his  men  by  his  visible  presence.  Then  he  sent 
them  forward,  and  by  one  fell  stroke  ended  the 
Shenandoah  campaign. 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  GREAT  GENERAL. 

Two  qualities  are  necessary  to  make  a  great  gen¬ 
eral.  He  must  know  not  only  how  to  fight,  but 
when  to  fight,  and  he  should  always  aim  at  produc¬ 
ing  permanent  results.  In  our  civil  war  many 
really  good  commanders  could  fight  when  the  oc¬ 
casion  arose,  but  they  often  fought  without  prepar- 
tion  or  not  at  the  proper  moment.  Besides,  they 
were  content  to  win  the  battle  without  following  it 
up  and  with  another  blow  emphasize  the  first  by 
permanently  disabling  their  antagonist.  McClellan, 
having  defeated  Lee  at  Antietam,  was  content  to 
let  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  slip  through  his 
fingers  and  escape  across  the  Potomac  to  recuperate. 
At  Gettysburg  Meade  was  satisfied  with  whipping 
Lee  on  Culp’s  Hill,  and  permitted  the  Confederate 
leader  to  make  good  his  retreat  into  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  *  '  f  V 

Sheridan,  like  Grant  and  Sherman,  was  made  of 
different  stuff,  for  when  he  entered  the  valley  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  render  that  convenient  field  of 
operations  forever  useless  to  the  Confederacy. 

When  Grant  was  preparing  for  his  overland  cam¬ 
paign  he  recruited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by 
emptying  the  fortifications  around  Washington. 
This  was  contrary  to  the  ideas  of  Secretary  Stanton, 
who  insisted  that  the  national  capital  must  be 
guarded  against  the  flank  attacks  of  Lee. 

“  Once  I  get  started,”  replied  Grant,  “  there  will 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  133 

be  no  flank  movements,  for  I  will  keep  Lee  too 
busy.” 

SHERIDAN’S  PERMANENT  BLOWS. 

This  was  Grant’ s  plan,  and  it  was  also  Sherman’ s, 
so  when  Sheridan  found  himself  on  an  independent 
line  he  decided  to  inflict  a  crushing  blow.  A  good 
deal  of  harsh  criticism  has  been  made  on  Sheridan’s 
devastation  of  the  Shenandoah  V alley  as  unneces¬ 
sary  and  cruel.  But,  as  Sherman  has  very  aptly 
said,  “  War  is  always  cruel,”  and  in  this  case  Sheri¬ 
dan’s  cruelty  was  in  reality  kindness. 

He  advanced  up  the  valley  in  August,  1864,  very 
leisurely,  allowing  Early  to  fall  back  as  leisurely. 
His  object  was  twofold.  He  wanted  to  examine  the 
topography  of  the  valley  and  allow  the  luxuriant 
wheat  crop  to  ripen.  Having  accomplished  this, 
he  gave  Early  time  to  reap  and  stack  the  whe%at, 
and  then  in  September  descended  upon  his  lines 
like  a  whirlwind.  Pie  thrashed  Early  soundly  and 
destroyed  the  garnered  wheat  by  fire,  and  in  some 
instances  destroyed  barns  and  buildings.  By 
smashing  Early  he  weakened  Lee,  and  by  destroy¬ 
ing  the  wheat  crop  deprived  the  Confederate  leader 
of  his  anticipated  supplies. 

These  were  permanent  results.  The  Shenandoah 
was  closed  as  a  line  for  menacing  operations,  and 
Sheridan’s  campaign  narrowed  the  boundaries  for 
both  Lee  and  J  ohnston.  The  battles  of  Winchester 
and  Cedar  Creek  were  brilliant  victories,  but  they 
were  chiefly  valuable  because  their  effects  were  felt 
long  after  the  smoke  of  cannon  and  musket  had 
disappeared.  As  a  strategic  movement,  his  valley 
campaign  stands  on  a  par  with  Sherman’s  march  to 


134 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN, 


the  sea  and  Grant’s  line  of  circumvallation  around 
Lee.  The  three  fitted  together  and  ended  the  war. 

Regarding  the  charge  of  cruelty  in  devastating 
the  valley,  it  need  only  be  said  that  Napoleon  did 
likewise,  and  so  did  Wellington,  and  so  did  Fred¬ 
erick  the  Great.  Real  generals  are  like  surgeons, 
for  they  must  not  shrink  from  giving  pain  if  they 
wish  to  make  their  operations  successful.  McClel¬ 
lan  sought  to  save  the  lives  of  his  soldiers  by 
besieging  an  inferior  force  at  Yorktown,  and  lost 
more  men  by  disease  than  he  could  have  sacrificed 
by  direct  assault. 

That  was  what  made  Sheridan  a  great  general. 

A  true  soldier,  a  born  tactician,  and  a  man  who 
knew  just  when  to  fight,  Sheridan  won  imperish¬ 
able  renown,  and  his  name  will  forever  shine 
brightly  on  the  pages  of  American  history.  Though 
richly  rewarded  by  his  country,  he  deserved  it  by 
faithful  service  and  the  display  of  high  military 
genius. 

SHERIDAN’ S  DETERMINATION. 

In  speaking  one  day  of  Sheridan  General  Grant 
said:  ‘‘When  Sheridan  arrived  from  his  raid 
around  Lee  I  gave  him  his  orders.  They  were  to 
move  on  the  left  and  attack  Lee.  If  the  movement 
succeeded  he  was  to  advance  ;  if  it  failed  he  was  to 
make  his  way  into  North  Carolina  and  join  Sher¬ 
man.  When  Sheridan  read  this  part  he  was,  I  saw, 
disappointed.  His  countenance  fell.  He  had  just 
made  a  long  march,  a  severe  march,  and  now  the 
idea  of  another  march  into  North  Carolina  would 
disconcert  any  commander — even  Sheridan.  He, 
however,  said  nothing.  I  said  : 


XIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN.  L  135 

“  ‘  Sheridan,  although  I  have  provided  for  your 
retreat  into  North  Carolina  in  the  event  of  failure, 
I  have  no  idea  that  you  will  fail,  no  idea  that  you 
will  go  to  Carolina.  I  mean  to  end  this  business 
right  here.’ 

“  Sheridan’s  eyes  lit  up,  and  he  said  with  enthu¬ 
siasm  : 

4  ‘ 4  That’ s  the  talk.  Let  us  end  the  business 
here.’ 

“But,  of  course,  I  had  to  think  of  the  loyal 
North,  and  if  we  failed  in  striking  Lee  it  would 
have  satisfied  the  North  for  Sheridan  to  go  to  the 
Carolinas.  The  movement,  however,  succeeded,  for 
my  next  news  from  Sheridan  was  the  battle  of  Five 
Forks,  one  of  the  finest  battles  in  the  war.” 

“  There  was  no  time  in  the  war,”  said  General 
Grant  on  another  day,  ‘ £  when  it  was  more  critical 
than  after  the  battle  of  Five  Forks,  when  Lee  aban¬ 
doned  Richmond.  Sheridan  led  the  pursuit  of  Lee. 
He  went  after  him  almost  with  the  force  of  volition, 
and  the  country  owes  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude 
for  the  manner  in  which  he  attacked  that  retreat. 
It  was  one  of  the  incomparable  things  in  the  war. 

“The  pursuing  army  was  in  three  parts,  under 
Generals  Meade,  Ord  and  Sheridan.  I  was  with 
Ord’s  command.  One  day  I  got  word  from  Sheri¬ 
dan  saying  that  it  was  most  important  that  I  should 
go  at  once  to  his  headquarters,  as  Meade  had  given 
his  part  of  the  army  orders  to  move  in  such  a  man¬ 
ner  that  Lee  might  break  through  and  escape.  I 
reached  Sheridan  at  midnight.  He  was  very  anx¬ 
ious.  Meade  had  given  him  orders  to  move  on  the 
right  flank  and  cover  Richmond.  This  Sheridan 


136  LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 

thought  would  open  the  door  for  Lee  to  escape 
toward  Johnston.  Meade’s  fear  was  that  by  uncov¬ 
ering  Richmond  Lee  would  get  into  our  rear  and 
trouble  our  communications.  Sheridan’s  idea  was 
to  move  on  the  left  flank,  swing  between  Lee  and 
the  road  to  Johnston,  leave  Richmond  and  our  rear 
to  take  care  of  themselves  and  press  Lee  and  attack 
him  wherever  he  could  be  found.  Meade’s  view 
was  that  of  an  engineer.  His  theory  secured  the 
safety  of  our  army,  the  safety  of  Richmond  and  all 
the  triumphs  of  the  campaign,  but  at  the  same  time 
it  left  the  door  open  for  Lee. 

AT  SAILOR  CREEK. 

“  My  judgment  coincided  with  Sheridan’s.  The 
question  was  not  the  occupation  of  Richmond,  but 
the  destruction  of  the  army.  I  told  Meade  that 
Richmond  was  only  a  collection  of  houses,  while 
Lee  was  an  active  force  injuring  the  country.  I 
did  not  want  Richmond  so  much  as  I  wanted  Lee. 
I  changed  Meade’s  orders,  and  he  went  to  work  in 
the  most  loyal  manner.  The  movement  threw  us 
between  Lee  and  the  Carolinas.  The  next  morning, 
when  Meade’s  force  came  up,  Sheridan  attacked 
Lee.  This  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Sailor  Creek. 
When  I  came  on  the  field  and  found  what  a  rout  he 
had  made  of  the  Confederates  and  that  prisoners 
were  coming  in  by  shoals,  I  saw  there  was  no  more 
fighting  left  in  that  army,  and  the  responsibility  of 
any  further  destruction  of  life  must  be  on  their 
shoulders,  not  mine,  and  I  resolved  to  write  to  Lee, 
asking  for  his  surrender.” 

STONE  RIVER. 

“  Speaking  of  Rosecrans’  army,”  said  General 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


137 


Grant,  “  Sheridan’s  command  at  the  battle  of  Stone 
River  was,  from  all  I  can  learn  about  it,  a  wonder¬ 
ful  bit  of  fighting.  It  showed  what  a  great  general 
can  do  even  when  in  a  subordinate  command,  for  I 
believe  Sheridan  in  that  battle  saved  Rosecrans’ 
army. 

“  Mission  Ridge,”  remarked  General  Grant,  u  al¬ 
though  a  great  victory,  would  have  ended  in  the 
destruction  of  Bragg  but  for  our  mistake  in  not 
knowing  the  ground.  Sheridan  showed  his  genius 
in  that  battle,  and  to  him  I  owe  the  capture  of  most 
of  the  prisoners  that  were  taken.  Although  com¬ 
manding  a  division  only,  he  saw  in  the  crisis  of  the 
engagement  that  it  was  necessary  to  advance  be¬ 
yond  the  point  indicated  in  his  orders.  He  saw 
that  I  could  not  know  on  account  of  my  ignorance 
of  the  ground,  and  with  the  instinct  of  military 
genius  pushed  ahead.  If  others  had  followed  his 
example  we  should  have  had  Bragg’s  army.” 


HOW  SHERIDAN  ENDED  THE  WAR. 

THE  UNFLAGGING  PURSUIT  OF  LEE  WHICH  TER¬ 
MINATED  IN  VICTORY  AT  APPOMATTOX. 

In  liis  volume  “  With  General  Sheridan  in  Lee’s 
Last  Campaign,”  Colonel  F.  H.  Newhall,  a  staff 
officer,  tells  in  the  chapter  entitled  “The  Pursuit 
of  Lee”  how  Sheridan  ended  the  war. 

“On  Aprils,  1865,  General  Sheridan  sent  a  dis¬ 
patch  to  General  Grant  reporting  his  move  on 
Appomattox  Depot  and  saying ;  “We  will  perhaps 


138 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


finish  the  job  in  the  morning.  I  do  not  think  Lee 
means  to  surrender  until  compelled  to.” 

“  As  Lee  was  compelled  to  surrender  next  morn¬ 
ing,  this  is  the  last  dispatch  General  Sheridan  found 
it  necessary  to  write.  All  through  the  campaign 
he  had  been  urging  on  the  whole  army  by  word  and 
example,  and  now  he  was  to  see  his  hopes  realized. 
From  the  morning  that  we  saw  him  riding  out  of 
his  camp  below  Petersburg  until  this  hour  he  had 
never  doubted  for  a  moment  that  a  crowning  victory 
would  attend  our  arms  should  the  whole  force  be 
put  vigorously  in  and  the  opening  success  thor¬ 
oughly  followed  up.  Looking  back  at  what  he 
wrote  to  General  Grant,  we  may  see  how  from  the 
first  he  did  not  hesitate  to  commit  himself  to  the 
defeat  and  capture  of  Lee,  and  how  he  boldly 
avowed  his  belief  in  entire  success,  shouldering,  as 
it  were,  the  responsibility  of  the  undertaking,  and 
rendering  himself  liable  to  the  severest  criticism  if 
failure  had  ensued. 

“  As  early  as  the  31st  of  March,  in  the  mud  at 
Dinwiddie  Court  House,  he  wrote :  4  If  the  ground 
would  permit,  I  believe  I  could,  with  the  Sixth  corps, 
turn  the  enemy’s  left  flank  (at  Five  Forks)  or  cut 
up  their  lines,’  and  we  have  seen  how  he  made  good 
this  declaration  with  the  Fifth  corps  the  next  day, 
and  when  this  was  done  how  he  promptly  moved 
against  the  flank  of  Lee’s  main  line  at  Petersburg 
without  waiting  for  orders.  From  the  Namozine 
road,  on  April  4,  two  days  before  the  decisive  battle 
of  Sailors’  Creek,  he  wrote :  4  If  we  press  on  we 
will  no  doubt  get  the  whole  army.’  ” 

“At  Jetersville  the  next  afternoon  he  said  in  his 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


139 


dispatch  (to  Grant) :  4 1  wish  you  were  here  your¬ 
self.  I  feel  confident  of  capturing  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  if  we  exert  ourselves.  I  see  no 
escape  for  Lee.’  Then,  as  the  enemy  staggered 
back  from  the  blow  he  dealt  them  at  Sailors’  Creek, 
Sheridan  wrote,  ‘If  the  thing  is  pressed  I  think 
Lee  will  surrender.’ 

“  At  sunrise  and  at  dark  that  day  he  had  three 
times  renewed  these  confident  and  urgent  messages. 
‘  I  will  move  on  Appomattox  Court  House.  Should 
we  not  intercept  the  enemy  and  he  be  forced  into 
Lynchburg  siirrender  there  is  beyond  question.’ 

“If  it  is  possible  push  on  your  troops.  We  may 
have  handsome  results  in  the  morning.’ 

“  ‘  If  General  Gibbon  and  the  Fifth  Army  corps 
can  get  up  to-night  we  will  perhaps  finish  the  job 
in  the  morning.  I  do  not  think  Lee  means  to  sur¬ 
render  until  compelled  to  do  so.’ 

LEE  NOT  READY  TO  YIELD. 

u  On  the  day  before  General  Lee  had  written  to 
General  Grant,  1  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  consider  that 
the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender 
of  this  army.’  If  it  had  not  arisen  it  was  because 
of  the  open  road  to  Danville. 

‘ c  Although  General  Sheridan  knew  very  well 
that  the  remnant  of  Lee’s  army  confronted  him  on 
the  road  to  Appomattox  Court  House  and  would 
try  to  break  through  to  the  railroad  at  sunrise,  he 
never  thought  of  abandoning  his  position  there, 
even  if  the  infantry  (General  Gibbon  and  Fifth 
corps)  could  not  get  up.  As  it  was,  it  pattered  by 
our  headquarters  at  daybreak  on  April  9,  1 865,  and 


140  LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 

with  it  came  General  Ord,  who  would  control  the 
infantry.  General  Sheridan  started  to  look  after 
the  cavalry,  who  were  already  skirmishing  briskly 
with  the  advancing  enemy.  Their  infantry  out¬ 
numbered  the  cavalry  and  they  knew  they  were 
fighting  for  a  point  that  must  be  gained  or  all 
would  be  lost.  They  must  prevent  the  closing  of 
the  Danville  road. 

“  For  a  little  while  the  cavalry  held  their  ground 
under  General  Crook,  but  when  Sheridan  came  up 
he  sent  word  to  Generals  Ord  and  Griffin  to  hurry 
on  and  ordered  Crook  to  fall  back  slowly  and  not 
sacrifice  his  men  by  trying  to  check  the  heavy 
force  attacking  him. 

4 ‘General  Merritt  was  now  ordered  to  get  his 
divisions  mounted  and  move  round  the  right  of 
our  infantry  line,  and  Crook,  as  he  retired,  was 
instructed  to  give  way  in  the  same  direction.  Gib¬ 
bon,  with  the  Twenty-fourth  corps  ;  Griffin,  with 
the  Fifth  and  a  division  of  colored  troops  belonging 
to  General  Ord’s  command,  were  ensconced  among 
the  trees  silently  waiting  for  orders  to  advance.  On 
the  extreme  left  General  Davies  was  skirmishing 
with  some  rebel  cavalry,  and  Mackenzie  was  out 
there  somewhere  stealing  round  to  their  flank. 
Apparently  we  were  deserting  the  field  as  if  we  had 
accepted  the  situation  and  would  now  permit  Gen¬ 
eral  Lee  to  pass  on  unmolested. 

“  Seeing  our  troopers  march  off  by  the  flank, 
apparently  giving  up  the  fight  for  the  road  and 
opening  a  way  of  retreat,  Lee’s  men  yelled  and 
quickened  their  pace  and  doubled  their  fire.  They 
would  get  away  after  all,  they  thought,  for  Sheri- 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN, 


141 


dan’s  cavalry  alone  couldn’t  hope  to  stop  them,  and 
evidently  we  had  no  other  troops  at  hand. 

ONE  ROAD  OF  ESCAPE. 

“  Appomattox  Depot  gained,  their  troubles 
would  be  at  an  end,  for  thence  the  road  to  Danville 
is  straight ;  at  last  they  would  have  cast  us  behind 
them  and  we  might  catch  them  if  we  could.  Fast 
walkers  they,  and  not  much  encumbered  with 
impedimenta ,  they  could  laugh  at  our  heavily 
loaded  infantry,  and  if  they  should  ever  join  John¬ 
ston — well,  wonderful  things  would  happen  then  ; 
so  they  gave  us  their  best  yell  and  pressed  on 
faster.  But  not  far  ;  for  the  sound  of  their  peculiar 
cheer  had  hardly  entered  the  woods  before  the  long 
line  of  our  infantry  emerged  and  burst  upon  their 
astonished  sight.  They  staggered  back  and  their 
whole  line  wavered  as  if  each  particular  man  was 
terror-struck.  They  didn’t  even  fire,  palsied  as 
they  were  by  surprise,  but  rolled  back  like  a  reced¬ 
ing  wave.  Then  our  troops  advanced,  saving  their 
cheers  for  the  end  of  the  Rebellion,  which  everybody 
felt  must  soon  be  reached. 

“  The  undulating  lines  of  the  infantry,  now  rising 
the  crest  of  a  knoll,  now  dipping  into  a  valley  or 
ravine,  pressed  on  grandly  across  the  open,  for  here, 
at  last,  we  were  out  of  the  woods  in  the  beautiful, 
clear  fields,  and  if  the  Rebellion  should  crumble 
here  all  who  fought  against  it  might  see  it  fall. 
The  cavalry  on  the  right  trotted  out  in  advance  of 
the  infantry  line  and  made  ready  to  take  the  enemy 
in  flank  if  he  should  stand  to  fight  or  dash  at  his 
train,  which  now  were  in  full  view  beyond  Appo- 


142 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


mattox  Court  House.  At  the  head  of  the  horse¬ 
men  rode  Custer,  of  the  golden  locks,  the  broad 
sombrero  turned  up  from  his  broad,  bronzed  face, 
the  ends  of  his  crimson  cravat  floating  over  his 
shoulders,  gold  galore  spangling  his  jacket-sleeves, 
a  pistol  in  his  boot,  jangling  spurs  on  his  heels  and 
a  ponderous  claymore  swinging  at  his  side — a  wild 
daredevil  of  a  general  and  a  prince  of  advance 
guards,  quick  to  see  and  to  act. 

THE  SURRENDER. 

“  As  he  is  about  to  strike  a  final  blow  for  the  good 
cause,  his  hand  is  stayed  and  his  great  sword  drops 
back  again  into  the  scabbard,  for  out  from  the 
enemy’s  lines  comes  a  rider  ‘ bound  on  bound,’ 
bearing  a  white  flag  of  truce  to  ask  time  to  consum¬ 
mate  surrender. 

“  General  Sheridan  is  just  behind  and  word  is  sent 
to  him  at  once.  The  wild  cheers  of  the  men  have 
passed  the  good  news  to  him  and  he  meets  the  mes¬ 
senger  half-way.  The  General  notifies  General  Ord, 
and  the  whole  line  is  halted  in  the  crest  overlooking 
Appomattox  Court  House  and  the  valley  beyond, 
in  which  lies  the  broken  army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

“  General  Sheridan,  confiding  in  the  flag  of  truce, 
rode  out  in  front  of  his  cavalry  and  struck  across 
toward  Appomattox  Court  House,  which  was  about 
the  center  of  the  position  our  troops  held  at  halting. 
He  had  hardly  gone  a  hundred  yards  when  some 
rebel  troops  in  front  of  him  suddenly  fired  on  his 
little  party.  Luckily  they  aimed  badly  and  nobody 
was  hurt,  and  the  General  and  his  stafl,  supposing 
some  mistake  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  eccentric 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


143 


proceeding,  waved  their  caps  and  made  other 
friendly  signals  only  to  be  answered  by  another 
volley,  happily  as  ineffectual  as  the  first.  Then 
galloping  away  they  found  shelter  behind  a  hill, 
and  Major  Allen,  of  our  staff,  rode  rapidly  into  the 
enemy’s  lines,  on  the  flank  of  this  dangerous  party, 
and  demanded  to  know  the  cause  of  this  violation 
of  the  flag.  A  general  in  command,  who  evidently 
supposed  himself  to  be  General  Taylor  in  Mexico, 
replied  that  South  Carolinians  never  surrendered, 
and  declined  to  receive  any  order  to  suspend  hostil¬ 
ities.  Custer  hearing  this  firing  promptly  moved 
out  to  look  into  it.  Meanwhile,  Generals  Sheridan 
wended  his  way  to  the  Court  House,  where  he  was 
met  by  the  Confederate  Generals  Gordon  and  Wil¬ 
cox  on  neutral  ground.  Just  as  they  began  to  talk 
firing  was  heard  again  where  the  South  Carolinians 
were.  General  Gordon  ordered  a  staff  officer  to 
find  out  what  it  meant. 

“  ‘  Never  mind,’  said  Sheridan.  CI  know  what  it 
is.  Let  them  fight  it  out.’ 

“  In  a  moment  all  was  quiet,  and  the  last  angry 
shot  had  been  fired  from  the  war-worn  lines,  which 
now  awaited  the  result  of  the  negotiations  for  sur¬ 
render. 

4  4  General  Sheridan  said  he  was  anxious  to  avoid 
further  loss  of  life,  but  he  must  have  some  assurance 
that  the  proposition  to  surrender  was  bona  fide  and 
not  a  makeshift  to  gain  time  and  advantage.  He 
sent  the  dispatch  of  General  Lee  asking  for  an  inter¬ 
view  to  General  Grant,  who  was  met  by  the  mes¬ 
senger,  five  or  six  miles  away  on  the  main  road, 
hurrying  to  meet  Sheridan. 


144 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


44  As  Grant  rode  up  to  the  Court  House  Generals 
Ord  and  Sheridan  met  him. 

4  4  4  How  are  you,  Sheridan?’  said  Grant  on  dis¬ 
mounting.  To  which  in  a  quiet  manner  Sheridan 
replied  : 

44  4  First  rate,  thank  you  ;  how  are  you?’ 

44  4  Is  General  Lee  up  there  ?  ’ 

“  4  Yes.’ 

44  4  Well,  then,  we’ll  go  up.’ 

Phil  Sheridan  had  ended  the  war. 


SHERIDAN’ S  LETTERS  ABOUT  WINCHESTER. 

Col.  Herbert  E.  Hill,  of  the  Eighth  Vermont,  who 
has  published  magazine  articles  on  the  campaign  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  received  the  following  au¬ 
tograph  letters  from  Gen.  Sheridan  corroborating 
his  statements : 

Chicago,  Oct.  17,  1887. 
Col.  Herbert  E.  Hill,  Boston,  Mass. : 

Between  6  and  7  o’  clock  on  Monday,  Oct.  19,  the 
officer  on  picket  at  Winchester  reported  to  me, 
while  I  was  in  bed  at  the  house  of  Col.  Edwards,  the 
commanding  officer,  the  sound  of  scattering  artillery 
shots.  These  I  supposed  to  be  made  by  Grover’s 
division  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  which  was  to  have 
made  a  reconnaissance  that  morning.  My  black 
horse  Winchester  was  saddled,  as  well  as  the  horses 
of  my  staff  officers,  and  we  started  about  8  o’  clock, 
passing  through  the  main  street  of  Winchester. 

On  reaching  the  southern  suburbs  of  the  town  the 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN, 


145 


sound  of  artillery  indicated  a  battle  to  me  unmistak¬ 
ably.  We  walked  leisurely  until  we  reached  Mill 
Creek,  half  a  mile  or  so  from  the  town,  trying  to 
determine  by  the  sound  whether  the  firing  was  com¬ 
ing  towards  us  or  receding,  and  after  crossing  Mill 
Creek  and  rising  a  little  bluff  on  the  south  side,  we 
saw  the  heads  of  the  troops  retreating  coming  rap¬ 
idly  to  the  rear.  I  at  once  ordered  a  halt,  directed 
that  the  train  be  stopped  and  parked  at  Mill  Creek, 
and  sent  orders  that  the  brigade  in  garrison  at 
Winchester  be  stretched  across  the  country  and  all 
stragglers  stopped.  Then,  taking  twenty  men  from 
the  escort  I  rode  rapidly  on,  as  nearly  parallel  to  the 
valley  pike  as  the  crowd  of  stragglers  would  permit, 
until  I  struck  Getty’ s  division  of  the  Sixth  Corps, 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  Middletown,  reach¬ 
ing  there  a  little  before  10  o’clock  a.m.  I  rode 
my  black  horse  Winchester  until  just  before  the 
final  attack  at  4  o’ clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  I 
changed  to  my  gray  horse,  which  I  rode  until  the 
battle  was  over. 

P.  H.  Sheridan, 

Lieutenant-General  United  States  Army. 

Chicago,  Oct.  18,  1887. 
Col.  Herbert  E.  Hill,  Boston,  Mass. : 

The  enemy  captured  from  our  troops  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery.  These  were  re¬ 
captured,  and  twenty-four  more  from  the  enemy 
in  the  afternoon,  making  forty-eight  pieces.  Ten 
battle-flags  were  also  captured  from  the  enemy. 
The  black  horse  Winchester  died  Oct.  2,  1878,  and 
is  set  up  on  exhibition  at  the  Military  Institute, 


146 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


Governor’s  Island.  The  gray  horse  was  burned  up 
in  the  Chicago  fire,  Oct.  9,  1871. 

P.  H.  Sheridan, 

Lieutenant-General  United  States  Army. 


SHERIDAN’S  LAST  VISIT  TO  WEST  POINT. 

In  speaking  of  Sheridan,  one  of  the  Congress¬ 
ional  Board  of  Visitors  to  West  Point  relates  the 
following : 

General  Sheridan,  hale  and  hearty,  was  moving 
about  over  the  smooth  green  sward  and  well-kept 
drives  at  West  Point  amid  all  the  glory  of  booming 
cannon  and  rows  of  polished  steel  with  which  a 
military  post  welcomes  a  general  commanding.  As 
Sheridan  stood  before  the  semi-circle  of  slender, 
erect  young  cadets  to  hand  over  to  them  the  pile  of 
diplomas  which  summed  up  their  four  years  of  hard 
work  and  exacting  drill,  his  thoughts  evidently 
went  back  to  the  time  when  he,  too,  stood  upon  the 
threshold  of  his  military  career  with  nothing  but 
his  second  lieutenant’ s  commission  and  his  academic 
training.  In  the  unassuming  little  speech  which  he 
made  to  the  cadets  before  the  superintendent  began 
to  call  up  the  graduates  to  receive  their  diplomas 
from  the  General’s  hands,  Sheridan  laid  bare  the 
secret  of  his  own  military  success. 

“Gentlemen,”  said  he,  “I’ll  tell  you  how  it  all 
came  about.  It  was  all  due  to  two  things.  When 
I  went  out  from  under  the  shadow  of  these  trees,  as 
you  are  doing  to-day,  I  resolved  that  I  would  make 


147 


*  LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 

myself  the  best  second  lieutenant  in  „*ie  army. 
Whatever  I  took  up,  even  if  it  were  the  simplest  of 
duties,  I  tried  to  do  it  better  than  it  had  ever  been 
done  before  by  others.  No  matter  if  you  are  hidden 
in  an  obscure  post,  never  content  yourself  with 
doing  your  second  best,  however  unimportant  the 
occasion.  In  the  second  place,  I  always  looked  out 
for  the  common  soldier.  Make  the  men  in  the 
ranks  feel  that  you  are  devoting  days  of  care  and 
thought  to  their  comfort  and  safety.  Trust  your 
reputation  to  the  private,  let  him  speak  for  you, 
and  in  the  battle  and  on  the  march  he  will  never 
let  your  military  fame  suffer  by  his  cowardice  or 
negligence.  Keep  these  two  things  in  view,  and, 
with  your  West  Point  training,  success  is  assured 
to  you.” 


SHERIDAN’S  RIDE. 

BY  THOMAS  BUCHANAN  READ. 

Up  from  the  South  at  break  of  day, 

Bringing  to  Winchester  fresh  dismay, 

The  affrighted  air  with  a  shudder  bore, 

Like  a  herald  in  haste  to  the  chieftain’s  door, 
The  terrible  grumble  and  rumble  and  roar, 
Telling  the  battle  was  on  once  more, 

And  Sheridan  twenty  miles  away ! 

And  wider  still  those  billows  of  war 
Thundered  along  the  horizon’s  bar, 

And  louder  yet  into  Winchester  rolled 
The  roar  of  that  red  sea  uncontrolled, 
Making  the  blood  of  the  listener  cold 
As  he  thought  of  the  stake  in  that  fiery  fray, 
And  Sheridan  twenty  miles  away! 


148 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHEKIDAN. 


But  there  is  a  road  from  Winchester  town 
A  good,  broad  highway  leading  down ; 

And  there  through  the  flush  of  the  morning  light 
A  steed  as  black  as  the  steeds  of  night 
Was  seen  to  pass  with  eagle  flight. 

As  if  he  knew  the  terrible  need, 

He  stretched  away  with  his  utmost  speed ; 

Hill  rose  and  fell,  but  his  heart  was  gay 
With  Sheridan  fifteen  miles  away ! 

Still  sprang  from  those  swift  hoofs  thundering  south, 

The  dust  like  smoke  from  the  cannon’s  mouth. 

Or  the  trail  of  a  comet  sweeping  faster  and  faster, 
Foreboding  to  traitors  the  doom  of  disaster ; 

The  heart  of  the  steed  and  the  heart  of  the  master 
Were  beating  like  prisoners  assaulting  their  walls, 
Impatient  to  be  where  the  battle-field  calls  ; 

Every  nerve  of  the  charger  was  strained  to  full  play 
With  Sheridan  only  ten  miles  away ! 

Under  his  spurning  feet  the  road 
Like  an  arrowy  Alpine  river  flowed, 

And  the  landscape  sped  away  behind 
Like  an  ocean  flying  before  the  wind ; 

And  the  steed  like  a  bark  fed  with  furnace  ire 
Swept  on  with  his  wild  eyes  full  of  fire. 

But  lo !  he  is  nearing  his  heart’s  desire, 

He  is  snuffing  the  smoke  of  the  burning  fray, 

With  Sheridan  only  five  miles  away ! 

The  first  that  the  General  saw  were  the  groups 
Of  stragglers ;  and  then  the  retreating  troops. 

What  was  done — what  to  do?  a  glance  told  him  both; 
Then  striking  his  spurs  with  a  terrible  oath, 

He  dashed  down  the  line  ’mid  a  shower  of  huzzas, 

And  the  wave  of  retreat  checked  its  course  there,  because 
The  sight  of  the  master  compelled  it  to  pause. 

With  foam  and  with  dust  the  black  charger  was  gray, 

By  the  flash  of  his  eye  and  his  red  nostril’s  play, 


LIFE  OF  GEN.  SHERIDAN. 


He  seemed  to  the  whole  great  army  to  say, 
“  I’ve  brought  you  Sheridan,  all  the  way 
From  Winchester  town  to  save  the  day.” 

Hurrah,  hurrah,  for  Sheridan ! 

Hurrah,  hurrah,  for  horse  and  man! 

And  when  their  statues  are  placed  on  high, 
Under  the  dome  of  the  Union  sky, 

The  American  soldier’s  temple  of  fame — 
There  with  the  glorious  General’s  name 
Be  it  said  in  letters  both  bold  and  bright, 

“  Here  is  the  steed  that  saved  the  day 
By  carrying  Sheridan  into  the  fight, 

From  Winchester,  twenty  miles  away.” 


/ 


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INCIDENTS  OF  AMERICAN 

CAMP-LIFE.— A  collection  of  tragic,  pathet¬ 
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